Lost is an Understatement
by zhaohuanshi
Summary: Five young girls were to study abroad in Shanghai post-graduation, but when their plane landed they weren't in China! Tossed in a plot beyond both their and the Preventers' comprehension, just why are they there? What for? And will they ever get home?
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **First of all, obviously I don't own Sotsu Agency Sunrise, Gundam Wing, any of the characters or worlds involved, etc.

That said, this fanfic is mainly a gift to my friends. This is dedicated to them, especially to fellow authors **hypaalicious** and **The Paradox** whom I was blessed to know IRL along with Megh and Steph. We've endured _so_ much this makes me smile, because I know we'll always be friends no matter where life takes us and I'll always remember the actions and adventures that have inspired the ones in here.

A lot of the characters in here are based off of _real_ people. Yes I use my friends in this fic, and I use our real histories, names, etc. I know a lot of people don't like OCs, but please don't just turn your nose and leave at the thought of "egad, original characters!". You never know, you might like it. You might even laugh or cry. It depends on where this goes.

Oh yeah, and there's no real yaoi in this. I'm sorry if you're disappointed, but there's THOUSANDS of other Gundam Wing fanfics where you can find that. That said, on with the show.

**Chapter 1**

There is always something magical about airports. It's a place of either endings or beginnings; sometimes beginnings that happen because of an ending, or the ending of a great beginning. People from all over are either arriving or leaving, but in the end there is one thing in common: they come together. Sometimes it's for a day, sometimes it's for an hour, sometimes it's forever. But from wherever they have come, whatever path they have followed, it is here that they meet. It's where paths cross.

Chicago O'Hare International Airport was no stranger to this concept. As a matter of fact, it was a bustling metropolis of its own. At least four different languages were booming over the loudspeakers, calling the attention of flights, general things to take note, announcements, and so on.

Jaenelle Kelly took in a deep breath and sighed happily, re-adjusting the strap of her rather heavy carry-on yet another time. She was absolutely ecstatic at the events that were about to take place. Just one week prior she had finished her final year at Grand Valley State University. She was free to go. It was now May 8th. The day had finally come.

It had been a tough final semester. Suffering from severe bouts of senioritis and a deep lack of interest in her general education credits she'd neglected since freshman year, she was honestly surprised she'd made it. But she did and she was finally here at the airport and about to finally begin the journey she'd been yearning to take.

_*United Airlines Flight Number 8624 from Chicago to Shanghai Pudong is now boarding… *_

Her eyes perked. With a bright smile on her face, she thanked the woman at the stand where she had been buying a really seriously overpriced pizza and rushed to where gate C13 was, trying not to burn her mouth and manage to eat her pizza at the same time. She probably looked like a pig, but she didn't care. It was _time_.

Two years ago exactly she and one of her best friends, Sharon Gladden had gone to China. It all started when the two of them were in the same East Asian Literature class Jaenelle's sophomore year. They had met the year prior. Sharon didn't care much for Jaenelle at first for Jaenelle had always been late to a different class and caused a slight disturbance when she joked around in class with a boy she had been (very temporarily) seeing at the time. But that had changed when Jaenelle decided to shove down her shyness and as Sharon to teach her how to _Para Para_ dance. The two became close friends quickly, and as that happened their own best friends met and became a close-knit group nicknamed 'Plan B', after the fact that they lived in dorm building South B and Plan B had been the name of a now-closed bar in Shanghai they and their classmates had frequented.

It was in that East Asian Literature class that they had met Peimin Ni from both the East Asian studies department and the philosophy department. A man in his early fifties with silvering hair and bright eyes that lit up a room, Professor Ni had smiled just as bright as the glow his eyes created that day and said, "My name is Peimin Ni, and I will be your professor this semester, as the normal professor for this course, Curtis Smith, is on sabbatical.

"On a side note, I along with Professor Geling Shang run a summer program to China every summer. Here, let me pass these out." Ni then passed out flyers for the whole class, detailing the trip in its either six-week or three-month entirety depending on the choice of the student. "The deadline is January 15th. If interested, please apply."

That night, Jaenelle had gone home and called her grandparents and told them she was going to China. This was a shock to them; Jaenelle had been planning on going to Japan as it was her goal to chase after her own heritage on her father's side.

"China?" her grandmother echoed, dumbfounded.

"China," Jaenelle had repeated.

"No."

"Yes."

"No. No, you're not going to China. It's _communist." _

Lo and behold, both Jaenelle and Sharon were on a plane four months later to the really barely communist (honestly capitalist/socialist – please don't ask how that's possible) country of the People's Republic of China. They spent three incredibly wonderful months there, grew, matured, became inseparable friends, and then became crazy and went to Taiwan the following summer together. Again they grew, matured, became even more inseparable, and now were being crazy a _third_ time and were now about to go to China a third time. Only this time they'd dragged everyone else with them.

As Jaenelle wolfed down her pizza, she spotted Sharon instantly at the gate. She was hard to miss. She was tall, black, thin, and… had purple and blue hair. She didn't dye it but instead had extensions braided into her hair. They were rather long also, so it was impossible to miss her. Her hair and her bright, blindly obnoxious attire caused her to stand out very easily in a crowd. She was talking very animatedly with her best friend since high school, Regina Stewart.

Gina was very opposite to Sharon. Also black, she was short, not stick-thin, definitely wore neutral colours (with the exception of orange), and definitely mild and soft-spoken. But the two of them were crazy close, practically closer than blood. On campus sometimes people wondered stupidly if they were lesbians, blind to the fact that people could just honestly be friends and be _that_ close. Both Gina and Sharon were big video game players and shared about as much in common as they did opposites. For the summer trip due to the nature of black hair, Gina had also done her hair, only hers was done in cornrows. The last thing they needed was Shanghai's vicious humidity to give them fros, and both girls were pretty sure that the Chinese had no idea what to do with black hair.

Finishing her pizza, Jaenelle tossed the plate in the garbage and hopped in line. "So, wha'd I miss?" she asked brightly.

"Oh, you know, the flight," Sharon grinned. "They said we weren't allowed, y'know. They recognized our sorry asses and said we were deported though we hadn't left yet."

"People would die," Jaenelle smiled sweetly.

"I'll bet they would," Meghan O'Connor chuckled as she joined them. A hair taller than Gina, Megh had light, wavy brown hair with hints of red from previous dyes as well as fierce green eyes. She was considered very hard to get to know, especially when she glared at you with said fierce eyes. Generally quiet unless given a subject she actually felt she had something to say on, Megh was the slightly aloof one in the group, which was funny because in all truth it was Jaenelle who was the most aloof in her own way. Megh was a paradox, but not nearly as much of a paradox as Gina.

"You know, I really wish Steph was here," Jaenelle couldn't help but muse.

"She had to fly to China early, you know that," Sharon shrugged.

"I still wish my parents had let her just stay with us instead of her having to change her ticket because of her parents schedule," Jaenelle remained stubborn. Out of all of her close friends, it was Steph who was the closest. During high school Steph had broken the then very silent and somewhat dark Jaenelle out of her shell. Steph had been bright, bubbly and cheerful and didn't take 'no' for an answer when she tried very hard to be Jaenelle's friend. The two shared as close of a bond as Sharon and Gina did. Due to being absent from GVSU for two years because she had community college free (her father was a professor), Megh had some bonding and catching up to do, but there was plenty of time, Jaenelle thought, over the summer for that to finally occur.

"I'm worried about Steph though," Gina spoke up. "I think it's strange she hasn't called or anything."

"Her flight confirmed as landed," Sharon pointed out, trying to be optimistic. "Maybe Wang Peng picked her up okay. Hey, did you ask your boyfriend if he picked up Steph?"

Jaenelle's cheeks flushed. "Wang Fang is _not _my boyfriend. I wish! And he hasn't been on MSN lately, so I haven't talked to him to find out."

Two years ago, Jaenelle had met Wang Fang at Pudong International Airport the day she had arrived in Shanghai. She'd fallen in love with him, and she knew that when she arrived in Pudong once again he would be there. She couldn't wait to see him again… and to question him about Steph, of course. She knew Steph was alright in her heart. Jaenelle believed the two of them had a firm enough connection that she'd _know _if something bad happened.

"Hey, Jae!"

Jaenelle whipped her head around to look at Geling Shang, her 'Dad'. She loved both him and Ni like they were her both her fathers, and as life was kind they loved her the same. "Count the students. See if everyone's here."

"Yes, sir!" Jaenelle nodded, taking out the class roster.

"And watch your little brother," Shang added as an after note.

Jaenelle glanced over at Christopher, who was with his mother and Professor Yan Yu. She shook her head; Christopher didn't need watching. He was trying to pull Professor Yu's carry-on, but decided it was too heavy and dropped it. The two-year-old stared at it, puzzled.

"_Ei, ni zai gan shenme?" _his mother, Sarah, laughed as she picked him up. Yan Yu laughed too. Jaenelle couldn't help but smile as she watched the exchange, as she looked around and counted the heads of everyone in the group. This was going to be an amazing summer filled with wonderful moments. 2007, she'd declared on New Year's Eve, was the year of destiny.

"Everyone's here, Dad," she called out after she was finished.

"No, no, you forgot someone," Sharon chimed in. "The black one, with the purple hair…"

"Where?" Peimin Ni put in as he walked up, looking around. "I don't see anyone with purple hair!"

Sharon just dropped her jaw dramatically. "That's meaaaaaaaannnnnnnn, Niiiiiiiiii!" she wailed, stomping just as dramatically, causing Ni to laugh.

Taking the opportunity, Jaenelle lunged forward and caught Ni in a choke-hug. "Papa!"

"Hey!" he laughed, hugging her back and patting her awkwardly; Ni wasn't too great with physical affection and he was half-blessed, half-cursed with being one of the very few people Jaenelle loved to get hugs from. Gina grinned, "Heya, Professor Ni."

"Yeah," Shang chimed in as he approached. "Time to get on the plane."

Not willing to pass up _this_ opportunity, Jaenelle hugged him too. He patted her on the back and set his hand on her shoulder. "That's my girl." She beamed with pride and warmth at his words. Yes, this was the way she wanted life to be. She was going to be in China with all of her beloved friends, her fathers, and she would finally see him again at last.

"The line's moving," Megh pointed out. Shang and Ni then headed towards the front. Everyone took out their passports and boarding passes as announcements in both English and Mandarin were being made.

"Nervous?" Sharon asked.

"Maybe," Megh laughed. "Never been out of the country before. This'll be interesting."

Gina nodded, gulping. "Oh god. Plane time. Really long plane time."

"If you didn't sleep, it'll go faster," Sharon pointed out.

"Oh no, I slept a little," Gina whined.

"It's okay, I did too," Jaenelle shrugged.

"I didn't," Sharon and Megh both put in.

"That's because you both are crazy insomniacs. Well, Megh is," Jaenelle smirked as they started to board. "You just have an odd sleeping schedule, Miss 'I-Am-Not-Awake-Before-Noon'!"

"HEY. I am _so _awake before noon!" Sharon said defensively, then added as an after thought, "If there's Tai Chi."

* * *

Gina awoke with a start. Normally she wasn't roused out of sleep like this, but her chest was hurting in that way that said something bad was happening. It was kind of hard to breathe. Why was it hard to breathe?

She turned suddenly to her left. Phew, Sharon was still there, dead asleep and in her blanket. Wait a minute, why was she worrying whether or not Sharon would still be there? _You're being paranoid, Gina, _she told herself.

Still, something felt… off.

Unbuckling her seatbelt, Gina managed to get past Sharon and went down the aisle. Instincts were screaming at her to check on her friends. The first person down the aisle on her left would be Jaenelle; Megh was sitting in a section way up front by Ni and Shang. Jaenelle was asleep, slumped against the window in a not very comfortable-looking position. Relieved that Jaenelle was alright, Gina made her way up even further and finally found Megh, engrossed in a book.

"Hey," Gina said, waving as she approached. "Have you slept at all?"

"Yeah," Megh said, putting down her book. "I think I woke up maybe a minute ago? I just re-opened my book. It was weird though."

"Weird?" Gina tilted her head and scratched the back of it.

"Yeah, like… I just fell asleep. And then it felt like the plane shifted in my dreams. Then I woke up. I don't know- hey, the screens are off."

Gina glanced at the screen that should be on detailing where the plane was on the map and her eyes widened when she realized the screens indeed _were_ off. But why? This was a sixteen-hour flight; surely they would be at least be playing some kind of movie?

"I'm gonna go look for Ni or Shang," Gina suddenly announced, the feeling in her chest only growing worse. Megh nodded, noting the look of concern but returning to her book, not sure what to do about the situation.

Gina made her way down the aisle, looking around with an intense look. Everyone seemed to be sleeping, but this was normal as it was dark and a long flight. She made it all the way to the section where business and first class started when she realized: _Ni and Shang weren't there._

Back-tracking, Gina went down the aisle again all the way back to her seat at the very back of the plane. She went back up and down yet again, almost oblivious to the concerned yet weirded-out look on Megh's face. Finally she made a beeline for Jaenelle. It seemed natural to go to Jaenelle in a crisis; she was the unspoken leader of the group.

"Umm… Jae?"

Jaenelle jerked awake like someone shoved her. "W-what?" she blinked, rubbing sleeping sand from her eyes. "Are you alright?"

"I can't find Ni or Shang," Gina blurted. "I can't find Yan Yu either."

Jaenelle tried to shoot up from her seat, but her seatbelt held her in, digging into her stomach. Cursing slightly, Jaenelle fumbled with her seatbelt and rose from her chair. "Maybe you just missed them because they're sleeping. I'll-"

Suddenly the plane jerked. Letting out a pained whine – Gina never really screamed, which oddly caused Jaenelle to wonder at the moment what it would sound like if Gina actually _did_ ever scream – Gina fell forward, sprawled out on the ground. Though quiet, her yelp alerted Sharon, whose eyes snapped open.

"G-fuu?" Sharon said loudly, her voice filled with concern as she tried to also jerk out of her chair but was caught by her seatbelt. "God. Fucking. Dammit!" she cursed loudly, throwing her blanket to the side and unbuckling her seatbelt before rushing to Gina's side. Jaenelle was also there, holding Gina's hand.

"I'm okay, thanks," Gina offered as Sharon helped her up. Nodding at Gina, Jaenelle rushed forward, looking feverishly back and forth for Ni or Shang. "Dad? Papa?" Jaenelle called out, worried. No one seemed to wake up or notice except Megh, who was putting her book away and also unbuckling her seatbelt. "_Lao Ba, Baba,"_ Jaenelle switched to Chinese, her worry increasing by the moment. "_Nimen zai nali?"_

The plane jerked again; Megh gripped the chairs, digging her nails in like claws to keep her footing as Jaenelle let out a scream, flying forward and hitting the doors that separated the classes hard. Megh was by her side in a second; Sharon's loud cursing heard in the background. "You okay?" Megh asked.

"Nothing's broken," Jaenelle muttered.

"Guys," Gina said loudly, panic in her voice. "Guys, oh my fucking god, _guys!"_

Gravity was pulling them forward. The plane was _tipping._

"We're _falling,_ oh my god," Gina groaned.

That did it. Jaenelle started to beat on the doors as Megh kicked. "_Papa! Dad! Someone for the love of god!" _Jaenelle wailed, banging her fists loudly.

Gina and Sharon were rushing towards them; not like they had any choice as the plane was tipping and they were surely going to plummet to their deaths any time. "What the fuck is going _on?"_ Sharon demanded, trying to open the doorknob and cursing, "Shit! It's locked!"

"This isn't happening, this isn't happening," Gina moaned, sitting in a chair. "We gotta think! _We. Need. To. Think."_

"Why the hell isn't anyone else waking up?" Megh suddenly pointed out, shaking her head as she glared at the still sleeping bodies.

"P-please don't tell me they're dead," Jaenelle moaned. Gina's hands flew up and clutched at her braids, letting out a half hysterical laugh mixed in with her own moan of terror.

"Oh hell fucking _naw!"_ Sharon screamed, walking in the aisle and kicking one of the legs. To her absolute horror, they didn't move. "Oh. My. _Fuck."_

Gina started to hyperventilate. Jaenelle kept pounding on the door, screaming, "_Someone please! Wo men bu yao! Qing bang women! _Oh hell, my Chinese isn't good enough to even plead in an _emergency! _Sharii?_"_

Sharon gave a harsh laugh, "You think mine is either? ELL OH ELL, NO."

Frustrated and scared, Megh suddenly turned, letting out a cry of rage and kicked the back of a chair, causing the already down food tray to suddenly break off its hinges and crash to the ground, sliding forward due to the tip of the plane. Grabbing it, Megh let out another raging cry and started hitting the doorknob wildly. On the fifth swing it snapped off. She kicked the door and it flew open.

"To the pilots!" Jaenelle snapped, taking charge. The four girls rushed forward, trying not to fall on each other. The plane hadn't tipped to a complete 90 degree angle; but it was still definitely on its way there. As they ran past, Gina looked around at the open windows and let out another loud moan. "You guys… I see ground!"

"You're shitting me," Sharon groaned, stopping to look and she let out a laugh almost as crazy as the ones Gina was laughing earlier. "Wow, GOD!" The ground was definitely getting closer, and the plane wasn't losing speed.

Rushing forward to catch up with them, Sharon entered the room and stopped to see what everyone was staring dumbfounded at. "What _now?"_ she demanded.

"There's no pilots," Jaenelle answered.

"Please tell me you're- aw, _hell!"_ Sharon threw up her hands in despair when she looked past them and realized it was true. "Now what do we do?"

Jaenelle was already in a seat, putting on the headphones on the dashboard and pressing down a button she prayed was for communication. "Emergency! S.O.S.! Um, we're a United Airlines flight heading from Chicago O'Hare to Shanghai Pudong and we're about to _crash,_ and we have no pilots so if the nearest tower could _please_ give us instructions on how to land it would really be bloody appreciated right now…"

Sharon was pacing as Megh was slumped against a wall, angry tears sliding down her cheeks. Finally she turned to Gina, the craziest idea ever popping into her head. It was definitely crazy, but this wasn't exactly a situation that couldn't use a few crazy attempts. "G-fuu! This is just a video game. _A video game. _And you're the best at games."

Gina shook her head, her laughter-like-wail emerging yet again, "No, Sharii-chan, no this isn't like a video game! I can't land a plane; I don't know how!"

"G-fuu, _please,_ you're the only one skilled enough to do this!" Sharon pleaded.

"Agreed," Megh piped up. "If anyone can do this, you can."

Gina started to hyperventilate a little. Her, land a _plane? _In what video game do four recent college graduates stop a full plane from crashing to the ground? Did any game she even play _have _any type of landing? _This wasn't Snakes on a Plane where someone actually did something like that seriously! That movie was a comedy anyway!_

"_PLEASE!"_ Jaenelle was screaming into her microphone piece. _"DOES ANYBODY HEAR US?! WE DON'T WANT TO DIE!"_

That did it. Gina marched forward, her face set with determination and she sat down, rubbing her palms on her jeans to try and dry the sweat that had formed from the anticipation of the suggestion Sharon had made. They were ridiculously close to the ground now, at least as far as this was concerned.

"Pull up!" Sharon snapped.

Gina pretended it was a video game. She was sitting in the lobby of South B and Sharon was with her, encouraging her and shouting suggestions like always. This wasn't anything more than a PS2 controller, although big. Maybe it was like the Wii Remote or something since she could move it and it would do what she wanted as she moved, yeah! Gina pulled up, her grip on the wheel extremely hard. Her eyes were focused on what looked like to be a runway. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jaenelle put down the headphones. Megh's hand was on her shoulder.

"Yeah, that's it G-fuu!" Sharon shouted, a glimmer of hope evident in her voice. The nose of the plane seemed to rise a little. If she aimed it right, they could land…

Buzzers suddenly started to go off, lights began to flash. It was as if the plane had woken up and realized that it was doing something terribly wrong. The noise only caused the fear in Gina to rise. This wasn't a video game, this was real, they were all going to die…

Suddenly Jaenelle's hands were on Gina's left hands. As Jaenelle nodded curtly, Sharon's hands were on Gina's right. Gina understood immediately. "You gotta pull with me, guys!" Gina said. "Otherwise, we can't beat this boss, the evil ground!"

"Yeah, the evil ground," Jaenelle laughed. Sharon couldn't help but laugh too.

It had to be timed, it had to be timed… Gina kept her gaze steady, concentrating, knowing that if she was a second too late or a second too early everything would fail… "_PULL!" _she suddenly shouted.

All three girls pulled, guided in the right direction by Gina's hands. The tip of the plane began to rise; the lights were flashing, sirens were wailing, the ground was too close, coming too close…

The ground wasn't close anymore; they were directly parallel to the buildings. That's when Jaenelle shouted, "_We don't know how to activate landing gear!"_

Sharon shook her head slowly. "OH SHI-."

The plane collided with the runway, the underside of it screeching loudly as it slid across the pavement. Jaenelle and Sharon screamed. Megh let out her own scream as she was thrown into the co-pilot's seat. She groaned loudly; she had hit hard. An idea formed in her head and she shouted, "BUTTON MASHING TIME!" and started to press all the buttons, praying _something _would turn off this damn plane, or something would cause the flaps on the wings to open and slow them down…

"No good, no good!" Jaenelle moaned, the building rushing in on them.

"_We're gonna fucking crash!"_ Sharon shouted.

Suddenly the plane jerked to a stop. Everything shut down, all was quiet. The four girls stared at each other for a long time.

"We… didn't crash?" Jaenelle whispered.

"Megh, did you…?" Sharon asked, choking on her own breath.

Megh shook her head, just as bewildered.

"I think... it's okay," Gina offered, coughing.

Suddenly, the door closest to the cockpit opened. Bright sunshine filled the otherwise dark plane.

"Is this plane haunted?" Jaenelle wondered out loud.

"Normally I'd think that's a dumb ass question to ask, but right now, I wouldn't be surprised at anything," Sharon laughed nervously.

Shrugging, Jaenelle rose and took a deep breath. "I say we get off this thing. Let's grab our carry-ons before this plane decides it'd be a great idea to take off on its own too."

The four girls scrambled to get their things and rushed to the open door. Megh winced at all the still bodies on the plane that didn't move.

"Dad… Papa," Jaenelle whispered.

Megh sighed, not knowing what to say. Could words even _come_ at a time like this?

To their surprise, there were stairs already waiting for them to help their climb down on the ground.

"I swear to fucking god, if we somehow managed to land in Silent Hill? I'm killing myself," Sharon muttered as they began to descend.

Megh looked up and blinked. "There's a car coming," she announced.

"Wang Fang?" Jaenelle perked. "Maybe it's Wang Fang, come to save us!"

"This… doesn't look like Pudong Airport," Sharon pointed out.

"There's not even Chinese," Megh added.

"Then… where are we?" Gina asked.

The car slowed down at the base of the staircase. Jaenelle, who had been first down the stairs, stopped walking. "My Detroit senses say no getting in cars with strangers," Sharon muttered. Gina nodded fiercely in agreement.

The door opened and a smiling woman with dark hair that seemed to almost be a purple-black stepped out. Her hair was relatively short save for a front thick almost side-bang that lined the right side of her face. She wore a green and brown jacket with a very familiar _P _on the left breast.

"Hey Megh," Jaenelle laughed softly, trying to make light of the situation. "Her jacket looks like a Preventer jacket. Didn't we want to order replicas from the internet once? Haha, it looks like she got there first!"

"Hers looks pretty real though," Gina pointed out.

"Yeah, but-" Jaenelle stopped talking as the woman began to clap, a pleased expression on her face.

"Very well done, all four of you," she smiled brightly. "At first we were afraid you wouldn't make it."

"Wait just a damn minute," Sharon spoke up, her voice loud and rimmed with anger. "You set us up with that fu-"

"You have successfully passed your entrance exams," she continued, beaming with pride as she took out a piece of paper. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lucrezia Noin. I am happy to announce that you four are about to begin a remarkable journey. Sharon Gladden, Jaenelle Kelly, Meghan O'Connor and Regina Stewart, welcome. Welcome to the Preventers Organization."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Loud laughter suddenly rang out in the air. It was laced with disbelief, shock, and finally a little bit of anger. The woman who introduced herself as Noin blinked. "Is something the matter?" she asked, looking a bit peeved.

"This is a joke," Jaenelle blurted out as her laughter ended. "This is a terrible, terrible joke. Lucrezia Noin? The _Preventers? _What, did we land in some huge Gundam Wing convention? Is this an amusement park ride? You know, that's a pretty accurate cosplay! Mind if you introduce me to the guy playing Heero Yuy? I'd like to tap that if he isn't sixteen years old."

Noin's look of utter shock caused her to bite her own lip and silently curse. Normally Jaenelle didn't talk like that, but given the current circumstances…

"Why would Heero Yuy be sixteen?" Noin asked. "It's been six years since our run-in with Mariemaia Khushrenada; Heero's twenty-three now."

Jaenelle's jaw dropped. Megh herself started laughing now too; she and Jaenelle had been die-hard Gundam Wing fans in high school. This was definitely something unexpected.

"What year is this?" Megh asked suddenly.

Noin said without pause, "After Colony 202."

"Shit," Sharon whispered. "She didn't even blink."

"Um," Gina finally spoke up. "Please forgive us, we think there's been some kind of mistake."

"Mistake?" Noin asked, looking visibly frustrated.

"Yes, we're supposed to be on a plane to Shanghai, China."

"Shanghai?" Noin echoed. "I've never heard of Shanghai."

"Shit," Sharon choked a laugh, glancing from Gina to Megh and then back to Noin. "This is fucked up."

"Never… heard of Shanghai?" Jaenelle repeated, her own voice choking.

"No, not at all. And there's no such thing as China; there haven't been individual countries in Asia since After Colony 35 when the Union was established."

"Damn," Megh whispered.

Jaenelle suddenly began to cry. Heading down the stairs and dropping her carry-on, she flung herself at Noin, grabbing her by her jacket and demanded with tears brimming down her cheeks. Noin opened her mouth, but Jaenelle snapped, "_NO! _You _can't tell me _ that China _doesn't exist! _It's the world's rising superpower! It's the third largest country! _The people probably made your jacket!" _

"Miss, _please_ calm down!" Noin snapped, gripping Jaenelle's wrists and forcing her to let go.

Jaenelle struggled; Sharon was down the stairs instantly, grabbing her by the arms, "C'mon, Jae, as much as you wanna hit her in the face this isn't going to make things better-"

"_Where is our real plane? Where is Papa and Dad?! What have you done with Peimin Ni and Geling Shang?! Why am I not going to Shanghai?! WHERE IS WANG FANG!? WHERE'S STEPH?!"_

"Steph?" Noin blinked. "Your classmate, Stephanie Witechowsky?"

That stopped Jaenelle. "You know Steph?" Sharon demanded as Gina and Megh headed down the stairs also.

"Of course; she arrived a week earlier than you did and has begun training," Noin said as if it should be plain fact. "She knows the rest of you were expected, and she looks forward to seeing you. Shall we go?"

Sharon looked to everyone before shrugging. "Why the hell not? What else are we going to do, fly to Michigan? I'll bet _that_ doesn't exist anymore either."

Jaenelle just tried not to cry.

* * *

It had started to rain when their story was done being told. The drops landed softly on the windshield of the car Noin was driving to take them to headquarters. "I see," Noin mused after everyone except Jaenelle had finished explaining. "That explains Miss Witechowsky's difficulty in adjusting. She didn't say anything really. So, you were supposed to go to this… Shanghai?"

"Yes," Megh answered. "For three months on a study abroad."

"Dude, I'm more creeped out about the fact that our passport numbers and everything are on your list of incoming students," Sharon shuddered. "I mean, how'd this happen? How'd we get mixed up?"

"Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do," Noin sighed. "Your visas for China are over three-hundred years expired and as I said, China doesn't exist and neither do your addresses of staying. I'd suggest going back to your university which _does _exist, but you all graduated and don't exactly have anything to do there…"

"We don't even have a place to stay," Gina pointed out.

"Honestly, we might as well just stay enrolled," Sharon agreed. "As much as this is definitely not what I had in mind for the summer, at least we have a place to stay and something to do as well as time to adjust to… wherever the hell we are. And when."

"When?" Noin asked.

"Um, never mind," Sharon laughed.

Megh was silent, glancing at Jaenelle who was staring almost blankly out the window, tears falling down her cheeks. This was hardest for Jaenelle; that much was clear. She wasn't sure how to say she was there for the girl, so she just touched her arm gently, nodding when she caught Jaenelle's glance. It got a smile, her gesture did.

"I'm sorry," Jaenelle finally spoke up, clearing her throat. She hated talking while she was crying, but she felt this needed to be said. "I got hysterical back there and… I'm sorry. I'm normally not like that. This… I should explain, I was moving to China to start a new life and to be with someone I loved. This obviously… cancels all that." She stopped talking, embarrassed.

Noin's eyes softened as she glanced at Jaenelle via the rearview mirror. "I can see how this would be devastating. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Jae, you've got us," Gina offered. "We're here for you."

"Just think of it as another study abroad," Sharon grinned. "A really fucking weird one that will kick our asses!"

Jaenelle smiled a bit. "I'll try."

The car drove on as the rain poured down.

An hour later, their car approached a very large complex accompanied with a few fields and two adjoining smaller buildings that were taller than the main building. Taking out her I.D. Noin flashed it over a screen and looked into the eye of a scanner before the gates opened and her car was allowed entrance.

"Hardcore," Sharon commented.

"Definitely," Megh chuckled.

"You four along with Stephanie are our oldest cadets," Noin remarked. "Most everyone is in their mid to late teens. We don't get so many college students as we're a non-profit organization, so it's not as if we have the money to send kids to college. Kids will come here _instead_ of going to college. You're also the same age as your main teachers, Instructors Yuy, Maxwell, Barton, Winner, and Chang."

"Y-Yuy?" Jaenelle squeaked. "As in _Heero Yuy?"_

Noin almost smirked. "You know him?"

"L-let's just say I'm a big fan!" Jaenelle flushed bright red and decided that the fence outside was absolutely _riveting._

"Instructor Chang does wushu, right?" Sharon asked suddenly.

"Oh yes, he's proficient in all the traditional arts of his culture," Noin nodded. "Wushu, Calligraphy, literature-"

"How about Tai Chi?" Sharon beamed.

"Oh yes, he teaches a Tai Chi course," Noin nodded again with a gentle smile.

"Sweet! I know just who the bug the shit out of! Hey Jae, we can do _Tai Chi _still! And hey, he might be better than W.F."

"I'm skeptical on that one," Jaenelle said, forcing a smile at the mention of the one she'd yearned to see for two years…

"Holy shit, it's actually them," Megh whispered sharply, breaking everyone out of their thoughts.

Indeed, five men were standing at the entrance; it reminded them of a hotel with the way the circle drive curved around the entrance. They stood in order of their respective numbers, and both Jaenelle and Megh recognized them right away.

"Oh my god," Jaenelle's jaw dropped. "It's him. It's really him. It's _Heero Yuy."_

"Shit, Duo's braid is _long_," Sharon laughed. "And Wufei looks seriously hardcore. Like as hardcore as Master Xu in Shanghai or something."

Noin looked confused at their commentary, but in the end decided it was better than to question. "I know it may be strange having instructors who are a year older than you-"

"Actually, I'm older than them," Gina blushed. "I'm twenty-four."

"Dang, you _old,_" Sharon laughed, then looked horrified at Gina's pout. "I'm sorry, G-fuu!"

"Anyway, but they're still your instructors and they get to decide how friendly you get to be with them. Though there's no dating allowed between students and instructors," Noin said, giving Jaenelle an amused look.

Jaw dropped even more, Jaenelle sputtered, "I- um, honestly w-wasn't thinking that w-way, oh my god…" She covered then her face, her cheeks and hears bright pink. "Dear bloody god."

Turning off the car, Noin opened her door and stepped out. The others followed suit, all of them looking nervous and whispering excitedly to each other while glancing between the Gundam pilots and them.

"These are the newest cadets, just in time for the new semester," Noin said with a smile. "Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Winner, and Chang Wufei, may I present to you Sharon Gladden, Jaenelle Kelly, Meghan O'Connor, and Regina Stewart."

"Hi! I'm black!" Sharon grinned.

The second one with the long braid, Duo, burst out laughing. "Well, that's kinda obvious! Since we're discussing ethnicity, I'm white, Trowa's white, Quatre's Arab, Chang's Chinese, and Heero we think is either Japanese with colored contacts or a Japanese-Caucasian mix."

"What a coincidence!" Sharon said, her grin getting wider as she placed two hands on Jaenelle's shoulders. "Jae here is also Japanese-Caucasian, just like Instructor Yuy!"

Jaenelle gave Sharon a look that promised death.

"I'm also black," Gina chimed in with an unsure smile.

"I'm white," Megh shrugged.

"I kind of want to kill myself because we're having this discussion," Jaenelle muttered.

"Oh, please don't do that," Quatre chimed in, looking concerned. "You'll have fun here, and you'll do well, we promise."

"I don't think she was serious, Quatre," Trowa put in kindly. Wufei snorted.

"Let's go inside," Heero suddenly spoke. "There's no point in standing out here like this."

"Agreed," Wufei gave a nod, already turning to head inside.

"Um, our things?" Gina asked, turning to Noin.

"They'll be delivered to your dorms promptly," Noin gave her a reassuring smile. "Follow those five; they'll take you to the briefing room."

Suddenly Jaenelle moved forward, heading quickly after Wufei. "Um… _bu hao yi si, laoshi,"_she said suddenly, asking his pardon.

"Whoa, she speaks Chang's language!" Duo exclaimed.

Wufei blinked and turned his head, surprised at the Mandarin. _"Shenme?"_

Though her Chinese wasn't perfect, Jaenelle decided to try anyway as Sharon approached, squeezing her hand. "Noin _gaosu wo men xianzai Shanghai bu zai, ye zhonghua renmin gongheguo bu zai, dui bu dui?"_

Wufei blinked, taken aback by her question and then decided to answer in English. "There has been no People's Republic of China since before the After Colony calendar was established. And the city that was once Shanghai is now practically covered in water."

Jaenelle's jaw dropped for probably the tenth time that day. Tears, despite herself, brimmed in her eyes. "Please tell me this is a joke…"

"No, of course it isn't," Wufei replied, surprisingly with concern in his eyes. "Everyone knows this. Why didn't you? Where have you all come from?"

Unable to help herself, Jaenelle buried her head into Sharon's shoulder and began to cry. Wrapping her arms around her friend, Sharon sighed, "It's a long story."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Lady Une set down her cup of coffee and sighed. "There's nothing we can do about this," she said to a disappointed Noin. "Are you sure these girls aren't clinically insane?"

"I would think they were if their passport numbers didn't check out and I didn't have Heero run a test on their things," Noin said. "Everything they have is dated from Anno Domini. They're not lying. But how did we get their names and why?"

"That's a mystery that I certainly hope unveils itself in time!" Une sighed. "There is also the problem that their money is no good here, their ATM cards from banks long gone; they can't pay for tuition and board."

"Quatre has offered to cover them as he did with Miss Witechowsky," Noin waved her hand dismissively. "He says it won't hurt the Winner fortune to pay for their room, board, as well as tuition. He's also been kind enough to give them a salary for the first month. Maybe we can give them work-study and they could find a job on campus or some place affiliated with us."

"That's awfully nice of Quatre, but now I really hope all five of these girls pass," Une sighed. "If they don't, where else will they go? They have no families, no homes, no money, not even any valid degrees. On those grounds, technically I should expel them as they don't exist. If the government knew about this-"

"Leave that to me," a voice said from the doorway. "I'll make sure the government doesn't know."

Both Noin and Une looked at Heero who walked in the door. "That's also awfully nice of you, Heero," Une pointed out.

"I also don't want to see them without futures," Heero said nonchalantly. "It's a fate undeserved by innocent people."

"That settles it then," Une nodded. "If everything is taken care of, then they're cadets from here on out."

"Heero," Noin said after a moment, sounding hesitant. "I'm very worried about Jaenelle Kelly. She's not coping with this change very well. She was supposed to go to the People's Republic of China and start a new life as well as try to be with a man she loved."

"I see," Heero said with a single nod. "That's unfortunate. And?"

"I think maybe you should check up on her from time to time," Noin offered. "I think she'd like that."

"Why me?" Heero asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Duo is better suited for that kind of thing. I'm no good with emotional women."

"Just… trust me, alright? You would be best." Noin let out a sigh. She didn't want to tell Heero that Jaenelle was a fan of his, but it really seemed the best way to help the poor girl. If Heero knew, he would probably be skittish of her, and Noin feared for the girl's emotional state right now. She didn't blame the girl for being so upset, but she would need to get over it and soon or else she wouldn't be able to handle the rigorous training.

"Alright," Heero said after a moment. "I'm not sure how to do this."

"Just… ask her if she's alright once in a while. Try to… be a friend, maybe," Noin suggested.

"Professionally, of course," Une added.

"Yes, of course," Noin amended.

"Hn," Heero pondered. "I shall try."

"Very well then," Une said with a smile. "Shall we move onto other business? There's talk of the next election and a few more dangerous rumors…"

The reunion of Steph with the others was a tearful one.

Jaenelle clutched Steph for dear life, sobbing. "I'm so sick of crying," she laughed through her tears.

"It's okay," Steph smiled. "You can cry. God knows you need it."

Sharon, Gina, and even Megh had tears too as they all joined in for a group hug. Finally they parted.

"What's the training like?" Gina asked.

"Tough, I'm still sore," Steph shrugged. "The hardest teachers are Wufei and Heero. Duo's really easy, as well as really easy to get along with. We're actually friends, he and I."

"You must be excited about that one," Megh teased. Steph had also been a fan of Gundam Wing and Duo had been her favorite "character." Not that they were fictional characters anymore, which had been a very hard concept to grasp, Steph later admitted.

"They're hotter in person," Jaenelle suggested.

"Duh, they're not drawings on paper anymore," Sharon laughed. "Hey, Jae! Let's go bug Wufei about learning Tai Chi!"

"You go ahead Sharii, I'm going to just… take a nap or something," Jaenelle shrugged.

"No, Jae!" Sharon tugged on Jae's arm obnoxiously, jerking it back and forth as she blatantly ignored the look on Jaenelle's face that would've stopped traffic. "Don't be antisocial! C'mon, let's go! Please?"

Jaenelle sighed. "Okay, okay. We'll see you guys later, okay?"

The other three nodded and waved.

As both Jaenelle and Sharon walked, suddenly Jaenelle blurted out, "Sharii, how can you handle this? How can you handle this change? Aren't you upset at all?"

"Oh sure, I'm really hella depressed," Sharon shrugged. "I really am worried, y'know? Everyone we know and loved who isn't here with us is dead. Back in our own time, Ni and Shang are probably worried about us, our own parents are going to think we've been abducted and in a crazy way, we have been by time and maybe fate. However, I'm just trying to accept life here and try to live my life the only way I know how. What other choice do we have? That and I'm also just not letting myself feel the depression," she added, giving a forced laugh.

"I wish I were more like you," Jaenelle sighed.

"Don't," Sharon shook her head. "At least you're honest with yourself in what you feel when. While it's good to press on and make things work, it's also good to feel what's really going on inside."

"I guess we're just two extremes that need a balance," Jaenelle smiled after a moment.

"I'll be _yang_ and you can be_ yin,_" Sharon grinned.

"Okay!"

"Hey! Know what that means? Together we make …the _Dao._ Dun dun dun!_"_

"Jae and Sharii are the Dao? But, '_The Dao which can be named is not the true Dao,'"_ she quoted.

"Yeah, yeah, even hurricanes have names nowadays. So?"

"Oh. That's a good point."

"We'd make a damn good hurricane."

"If I stopped crying all the time."

"Everyone needs to listen to Linkin Park now and then."

The two of them continued to laugh and joke down the corridor as Jaenelle made a dramatically horrible face and started to wail, "_CRAWLLLLING INNNN MY SKIIIIIINNNNNNN THESE WOUUUNNNDS THEY WILLLL NOT HEAAAAAAAAALLLLL…"_

"Damn, you better get that checked out," an amused voice said from an open door. "Things crawling in your skin causing wounds that don't heal doesn't sound too healthy."

Both Jaenelle and Sharon turned to look at a grinning Duo Maxwell. The least formal of the five pilots, Duo wasn't wearing his jacket. He also wasn't exactly wearing his blouse the way the rest of the Preventers did. First of all, it was un-tucked from his pants. Secondly, it was completely unbuttoned, showing off a very nicely toned and fine example of the male species.

Sharon stood behind Jaenelle just to make sure her gawking mouth wasn't seen by Duo. Jaenelle, being dense, explained, "Oh, it's just the lyrics of a song, I don't actually have those things…"

Duo laughed. "You took me seriously? Shit, you need to lighten up! What's your name, and your friend behind you who probably wants to lick my abs."

Sharon's jaw dropped, but not before she shut it so tightly it hurt her teeth.

"Don't be shy, you've got me _all_ semester," Duo drawled with a wink as he stretched dramatically, running one hand down his chest. "Plenty of time to consider the goods, get a good look..." He winked at Jaenelle, causing her to blush and sputter. Sharon didn't know whether she liked Duo or wanted to kick Duo in the face for being so full of himself. At the moment since she was embarrassed, kicking him in the face sounded more appealing.

"I-I'm Jaenelle," Jaenelle managed, sensing Sharon's anger as well as completely not knowing what to do with Duo's quite obvious display of his sensuality.

"Sharon," she said, stepping around Jaenelle and forcing a very sweet smile through clenched teeth. Damn did she want to kick his grinning face. Or maybe borrow one of Wufei's swords. Maybe that could be her final exam: successfully kill a Gundam Pilot. Though, she could consider maybe toying with him a little first, as he _was _sexy. _Damn, Sharon, you're morbid_, she thought to herself.

Duo looked at her amused, knowing way too damn well that she was definitely warring with herself over something. "I like these," he said with a smirk as he moved to take a braid and look. "They're pretty sweet. So… got anything else braided?"

_Oh hell naw,_ Sharon thought to herself, putting on hand on her hip and giving him a death glare. _This bitch did _not _just ask me that!_

"Duo," a very stern voice sounded from behind Sharon. "Noin has made it clear what the policy around here is."

Both Jaenelle and Sharon turned to look at a slightly grim Heero Yuy. Truth be told, Heero _did _look 100 Japanese if it wasn't for his cobalt blue eyes and the brown hair. He looked like he'd walked right out of Tokyo with the way his hair and eyes were. But Jaenelle knew both were his natural colorings. He was beautiful, if a man could be beautiful. More beautiful than Wang-

_Stop it, Jae,_ she told herself. _Just stop. Right now._

"What, Heero?" Duo let Sharon's braid drop. "We're just having friendly conversation."

"_Too _friendly," Heero noted, glancing from both Sharon and Jaenelle to Duo. "You know they're cadets."

"They're _our age,_" Duo retorted.

"They're still students."

"So, when they graduate it's okay, right?"

"Now is a good time to _leave,"_ Sharon hissed through her teeth. Jaenelle gave a nod before bowing slightly to Duo and then giving Heero a more thorough bow. This was normal for Jaenelle. She was very polite, and considering the fact that she really didn't want to get on Heero's bad side, she would maintain this politeness.

"Miss Jaenelle," Heero said as she turned.

Jaenelle turned back and to her surprise, Heero had a slight flush on his cheeks.

"I… I hear you are having a tough time," he said, the words sounding a little forced. "If there is anything you need, my office hours are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from one to three. You can… talk to me."

Jaenelle had no idea what to say to that. First of all, talking to the cold and stoic Heero Yuy might not exactly make her feel better, especially considering that she'd had a crush on Heero when watching Gundam Wing in the past. _Still did,_ she reminded herself. Secondly, she was shocked to hear that that was Heero's office hours.

Papa Ni's office hours had been the exact same time.

Nodding in a slight bow before it got too emotional, Jaenelle said, "Thank you, I appreciate it."

She turned quickly and both she and Sharon left quickly, trying to ignore Duo's, "Whoa, whoa, _whoa_, Heero! What was _that? _And you're trying to tell _me _that they're students!"

"Shut up," was Heero's reply as they rounded the corner. "I'm flirting with no one."

"Well, that was awkward as hell," Sharon finally breathed. "And I'm so planning on killing that bastard the moment we graduate."

"Why?" Jaenelle blinked.

"Oh, just the mere fact that he asked something I really didn't appreciate," Sharon replied, smiling a smile that normally would cause children to cry in terror.

"Isn't that technically sexual harassment?"

"I don't give a shit _what _it is, I give a shit about how fast that nigga's gonna die," Sharon said, continuing to smile.

"I like how you call him 'nigga' though he's not black."

"Hell, my _mom _says that any ignorant, arrogant asshole's a nigga," Sharon grinned, her face losing that evil quality. "But I'm black, so I'm allowed to call him that."

At that, both girls burst into laughter. Neither of them taking it seriously, they forgot about Heero and Duo for now and headed off to see Chang Wufei, aiming to make his life just a little harder.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Because the door was open, Sharon barged in.

Because the door was open, Jaenelle knocked anyway. No one was inside. Shrugging and looking unsure, Jaenelle went inside anyway.

The room had a very calming presence. It was quite elegant in its simplicity; the walls were a very plain white color but accompanied with hanging scrolls of calligraphy and bookshelves. What got both of the girls' attention however, was the sheer number of books in the room. They were astounded by all the books in the room. Most if not all of the books were in Chinese; Sharon was geeked when she spotted a copy of _Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ on the shelf. She was a very large fan of that series; her fangirling originally stemmed from playing a little too much _Dynasty Warriors_ for the Playstation 2. The only thing that really intrigued her was the fact that Wufei's copy looked old. Like… _really_ old. As in older than even the time they came from.

"He has more books than Smith," Sharon breathed.

"He has more books than Smith _and_ Ni," Jaenelle nodded, looking dumbfounded as she approached the closest bookshelf, trying to make out the titles of the works in her very limited Chinese.. "I could stay here all day and just _read! _Well, try to anyway._"_

"Hey! Most of the titles are in Traditional Chinese too," Sharon pointed out, her eyes darting everywhere to take in the sight of it all. "AND WOW LOOK AT THE TEAPOTS!" She dashed over to one of the bookshelves where a collection of _very_ fine teapots was neatly sitting on their own little mini-stand. She whistled when she looked at them. "These look _so _expensive. Smith totally has competition," she grinned at the memory of their Chinese literature professor back at GVSU and the sheer amount of books _he'd _also had. "Guess that's what happens when you're smart," she commented, still grinning.

"Oh my god, look at the _weapons_ in the large vase!" Jaenelle covered her mouth with one hand and pointed with the other, her eyes fixated at the various items sticking out. "That's _awesome!" _

"Oooooh!" Sharon made a beeline for the weapons, almost knocking into the bookshelf, but thankfully she'd managed to regain her balance – she silently thanked Professor Lee, her Tai Chi instructor from GVSU for that one – and stopped at the vase just to count the weapons. There were so many of them! Various swords, a couple of staves, two different spears…

When she was done, she stared up at the _very_ long staff, her head moving back just to take in the sight of its length. "It's… it's the _long staff,"_ she drooled. Unable to stop herself, her hand was lifting slowly in the air towards this divine weapon she'd longed to hold for what seemed like eons. "Oh my god…"

"If you touch it, I will break every bone in your body with it," a very cold voice rapped harshly from the doorway.

Jaenelle gasped and whipped around, both hands snapping forward to clasp in front of her. Sharon just lowered her hand, not taking her eyes off Wufei. No point in acting innocent now. She was caught red-handed, kinda.

"And might I ask _why_ you have barged into my office?" Wufei barked, crossing his arms in a very no-nonsense fashion, his eyes narrowed in very thin slits. "There had better be a good explanation, especially considering the fact that you were about to take one of my weapons. Did you think you could steal it?"

_That_ got Sharon's anger sparked. "Look, I had no intention of stealing your shit," she practically snarled. "I _will _admit however that I wanted to touch it. Besides, who the hell could steal a weapon _that_ long inconspicuously?"

Wufei pondered this for a moment before snorting, almost amused. "Very well, I accept that answer… for now. Now, why have you two _ladies_ barged into my office?"

_Did he talk to all his students that way?_ Sharon couldn't help but wonder. "We _were_ hoping maybe you could teach us."

"Teach you?" Wufei looked skeptical.

"Both of us are very passionate about Chinese culture," Jaenelle decided to explain, thankfully, as Sharon was ready to leave his office. "Sharon and I both graduated with the same degree in Chinese literature, culture, and philosophy."

"I see," the look on Wufei's face ended. "And what did you have in mind to be taught?"

"Tai Chi," Sharon blurted.

The Chinese warrior-scholar looked surprised. "Tai Chi?"

"We both studied it," Jaenelle explained. "Her way more than me, but we have."

"What style do you know? Yang? Chen? Wu?"

"We both learned Yang at GVSU," Sharon shrugged. "I learned some Chen at the park in Shanghai, but that's about it."

"You both learned Yang?"

"Some of the long form-"

"Do it."

Both Sharon and Jaenelle's mouths gaped, exchanging looks of horror. "Right now?" Jaenelle sputtered.

"You said you wanted to learn," Wufei pointed out matter-of-factly as he sat down on his desk, his arms still crossed. "I need to measure how good you are. Demonstrate."

"There's not a lot of room in your office," Jaenelle pointed out.

"Improvise," Wufei shrugged. "Begin. Now."

_Jesus,_ Sharon thought to herself as she and Jaenelle got into position. _This asshole's hardcore, making us do this _right now_. Guess he wants to know how serious we are. Too bad I really seriously don't remember my Yang as I was trying to practice what Chen I actually remembered for returning to the park with Master Xu…_

She felt a slight pang of pain at the thought of her not returning to the park to do Tai Chi with Master Xu, Lady Yi, and the rest of the gang. _They'll never see me, they'll never know that I was going to come back, _she couldn't help but think sadly. Her eyes started to sting with tears. _Christ, not this shit. C'mon, Sharon, focus!_

The two of them began in unison, thankfully, as if they hadn't Sharon was sure Wufei would count that against them. Hell, probably _any _mistake they did would be knocked against them! He was going to judge them, and he was going to be tough.

Somehow, that just made Sharon even more ornery to prove that she could handle his strict training.

Finally after about ten minutes of going through the form and unfortunately some giggles as they both worked together to do it _right,_ Wufei held up one hand. "Enough. Though your laughter was disturbing your _qi,_ I can tell you both have actually studied and are actually serious." Sliding off his desk, he headed swiftly for the door, his arms _still_ crossed. "Let's continue in the practice room. You need work. Badly."

"Well, "Sharon piped up. "At least he didn't say we suck so bad he won't train us at all!"

"We'll see," Jaenelle said, looking uneasy. She'd always been second to Sharon in Tai Chi, as Sharon was fiercely dedicated to Tai Chi and Jaenelle, though she loved it, was way more of a horrid procrastinator than she liked to admit. Maybe with Wufei as her trainer, she would snap out of her own procrastination habits and begin to become the person she idealized herself to be.

Maybe.

She hoped.

The cafeteria was _crawling_ with students. Gina and Megh were shocked to see so many; they honestly hadn't anticipated there being this many cadets. Maybe because there was a lack of military in the world now that all those who originally wanted to be in the army would have to accept this as an alternative.

Steph was used to this by now, so it wasn't that big of a deal to her. She was saving them seats while Trowa was giving them a tour. Inwardly, Gina was geeked. Trowa had been her favorite character from the show. Come to think of it, should she even mention the show?

…Nah.

"Currently we have over 1,800 students," Trowa explained, his monotone sounding lighter than the few other times they'd talked. "Some of them are here for the long-term training program, others for the shorter."

"There's different programs?" Gina asked.

"Certainly, kind of like how college has either a two-year or four-year option," Trowa nodded. "At the moment we have three programs. The first is for one year, and it's for the basic Preventer training which includes some combat as well as tactics. You can graduate as a Preventer, but there are limited tasks and positions available within the organization. For more students with more intensive aspirations, we have a two-year program that includes some very aviation training, but it's not much. The most you'd be able to fly would be a helicopter at best, but it's mainly training for assistance in such missions. The final is four years, and then you would be a full-fledged Preventer like me and the rest."

"Has anyone graduated from the four year program yet?" Megh inquired.

"Only about three, it's very tough." Trowa added at Megh and Gina's surprised looks. "You have to pass a simulation created by Heero with the usage of the ZERO system as well as a rather large course designed by all five of us," Trowa said with a gentle smile that gave away his pride at their genius.

"Wow, that's crazy, so it's like going against the brains of all five of you?" Gina half-asked, half said in awe to herself.

"Not entirely," Trowa chuckled. "Noin pointed out that if it were as hard as the best of all five of our potentials, no one would ever graduate, so we had to tone it down a couple of notches."

"Damn," Megh kind of laughed.

"But, wouldn't it eventually get easier over time for some of the cadets?" Gina pointed out. "I mean, gosh. Human beings are kind of fickle and talk sometimes."

"Normally I'd worry about it eventually getting too easy especially if people talk, but we sign contracts forbidding them to tell, and we can tell from observations if a candidate has been lead on. That and no one is prepared for what the ZERO system shows them in the first half anyway," Trowa shrugged. "It would be pointless to talk."

_Point taken,_ Gina thought to herself with a nod, taking a deep breath and allowing her mind to wander. What would it be like to be in the four-year program and get trained as a _real_ Preventer, she couldn't help but wonder. Could she handle it? She'd be a lot tougher than she was now if she enrolled. But didn't this kind of thing involve a lot of math? In the small bits she'd seen from borrowing Jaenelle's Gundam Wing DVDs, they certainly did a lot of calculations and statistics. It would be really hard for her to do that kind of thing, though she'd be a natural with the computer courses. But what about someone like Sharon or Jaenelle?

Gina thought back to when they were in high school as well as when they started out as GVSU students. Sharon was not that great at math, but she'd managed. That kind of thing definitely wasn't her forte, but she might be able to do alright if pushed. _Jaenelle_ on the other hand had taken math six times and barely managed to get by the last time. She also was horrible at computer science; in her Visual Basic class it had been Gina who had helped the poor girl so much with her coding to even get a passing 'D'. Jaenelle would likely fail; she was an arts and humanities person even more than she and Sharon were. Megh might do okay with it as she seemed to handle it decently, though not perfectly. Steph was the same, but she also was a business major so statistics weren't that much of a problem for her anymore.

Dang. In a way, if they didn't do four years here, what else would they do with their lives? It wasn't like they had a high school diploma to rely on now either. Maybe for Jaenelle the two-year program wouldn't be so bad. Depends on how much math was used. Or maybe the Preventers needed a translator? Then again, Jaenelle wasn't fluent in Chinese or Japanese and Wufei and Heero spoke fluent Japanese and Chinese so that wouldn't be needed either. Gina suddenly felt a slight twinge of panic at the idea of one of Plan B being without a place to go…

"Gina?" Trowa asked gently, causing her to snap out of her daydream. "Are you alright? You need to take your tray to eat."

_Stupid Gina_, she thought to herself. _Way to ignore your own surroundings. _She'd try to find out more information at lunch about the kinds of things they'd have to study.

A few minutes later they and Steph were all situated at the same table as the pilots minus Duo and Wufei while making light conversation while they ate. Gina looked down, still a bit in disbelief that the people standing in front of her were no longer animations on screen but actually in the _flesh._ They didn't look terribly different than their animated counterparts somehow, and yet they were, and all five men were quite attractive. Gina felt herself blush when she thought that.

Megh leaned in close and whispered to Gina, "I still wanna know how Trowa keeps his hair like that."

Gina almost choked on her Cherry Coke. Her throat burned with carbonation.

Steph raised an eyebrow from across the table.

"My favorite student!" Duo said with a deep grin as he sat down next to Steph and rustled her hair.

"And what makes her your favorite student?" Heero asked while sipping his coffee, nonchalantly.

"Because she feeds me," Duo grins.

"Jaenelle hasn't exactly been around," Steph said with a sheepish grin. "I had to give my meat to _somebody."_

"You don't like meat?" Quatre asked politely.

"Not that much, I'm a veggie person," Steph explained. "Jae's the exact opposite, so I feed her my meat and she eats my veggies. It works."

"Jae," Heero suddenly mused softly, looking into his coffee cup with a slightly glazed look. Everyone turned and looked at Heero, blinking at his sudden comment.

Heero made no movement to explain. He only sipped his coffee again, the moment passed.

Shrugging, Duo grinned. "Well, since you're my favorite student and you like getting As, I'm still getting your meat, right?"

"Duo!" Quatre set down his teacup, his expression grim. "You can't bribe students like that!"

Duo muttered as he devoured his hamburger in one bite.

Suddenly there was a terrified scream from down the hallway. It echoed sharply, causing the entire cafeteria to pause in the middle of whatever they're doing. Everyone was silent except for a few murmurs of confusion before a loud, enraged roar practically shook the room followed by curses in Chinese and a panicked yell of, "Please stop, _Laoshi!"_

"Oh dear," Gina smacked her palm on her forehead. Everyone at their table turned to look at Gina. "I know that scream anywhere. It's Sharii-chan."

Right on cue Sharon burst through the doors, screaming at the top of her lungs as her arms moved in wild circles. Right behind her zipping in was a beyond enraged Wufei and a pleading, panting Jaenelle. In Wufei's hands was a rather sharp and pointy spear.

"HOLY SHIT OH MY FUCKING SHIT!" Sharon shrieked.

"_DA SI!"_ Wufei screamed, and that was when everyone noticed something rather awful: _Wufei's ponytail was gone._ His hair was a complete mess and it looked like a five year old had tackled the back of his head. There was also a slight trail of blood running down the back of his neck.

"Shit," Duo whispered.

"_LAOSHI PLEASE STOP!"_ Jaenelle pleaded from the doorway, her chest heaving for breath as she sagged against the wall, coughing. What a time for her asthma to kick in!

Gina was up instantly, her face scrunched in what looked like fury. Expert martial artist or not, Wufei was _trying to stab Sharii-chan with a spear! _As Wufei backed Sharon into a corner, Gina sprung from her spot, grabbing some random person's tray and was instantly at Wufei's back. The Chinese warrior-scholar didn't have a chance to turn before Gina was smashing her tray repeatedly on Wufei's head.

"DON'T. YOU. HURT. SHARII-CHAN." In between each shouted word there was a loud, _THWACK _until much to Gina's horror Wufei crumpled on the ground, groaning. The spear was out of his hands and rolling, stopping at Gina's feet. Gina stared down at the fallen Chinese, horrified at what she'd done.

"Times like this I wish I had LiveJournal," Steph laughed nervously, rising slowly from her seat.

Sharon pushed herself off the wall and was hugging the shaking Gina. "Hey, G-fuu, it's okay, you saved me!"

"I-I just… I just knocked a G-Gundam Pilot unconscious," Gina shook her head. "Oh god. Oh my fucking god."

"Someone want to explain this?" Heero demanded in his cold voice that demanded authority while Quatre was there, kneeling at Wufei's side.

Sharon sputtered, laughing at absolutely nothing. "You see, what had happened was… uh…"

_CLUNK._

Jaenelle was suddenly sagged in a seat behind Heero, still out of breath. "I can… explain… Mister Yuy," she wheezed. "You see, Wufei had… left the room for a moment… and then," she coughed once, straightening as she patted her chest. "So bloody… out of shape. Anyway…"

"_Breathe,_ please," Heero sighed, not at all amused.

Jaenelle nodded and took a couple of breaths before continuing. "Sharii had the large… um, Guan Yu-like weapon."

"Guan Yu-like weapon?"

"I don't remember what it's called," Jaenelle admitted sheepishly. "But… she was doing the staff form that Professor Lee taught us, and she shouted, 'BITCH, BITCH, GET IN THE KITCHEN AND MAKE ME A SANDWICH!' and as she said that, Wufei entered the room. The blade was arching down, he jerked out of the way, and… well… it cut off his ponytail, some of his hair, and… a bit of his scalp."

The entire room was silent. Duo was covering his mouth with both hands, trying _so_ hard not to laugh his body was shaking violently from holding in laughter.

"You had to quote me, didn't ya?" Sharon muttered after a few minutes, breaking the silence.

That did it for Duo. He was on the ground, rolling and howling. Jaenelle shrugged, looking apologetic.

"Did I kill him?" Gina finally managed to ask Quatre.

"Head wounds bleed a lot," he managed to smile; only Quatre would smile at someone who beat his friend unconscious. "He'll probably wake up in a couple of minutes."

"And vow revenge," Duo pointed out almost cheerfully, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Well, that's just fan-fucking-tastic!" Sharon shouted, throwing her hands in the air. "I'm gonna die. This is awesome. Maybe I would've preferred Silent Hill after all to this shit!"

"I'll take Wufei," Trowa offered. "We'll calm him. In the meantime, Sharon and Gina, why don't you two go back to your dorms?"

"Staying there for quite a while would also be a good option," Heero added, his face expressionless except for the ice-daggers in his eyes he shot the two of them.

Both Sharon and Gina nodded as Trowa and Quatre lifted up Wufei's slowly waking form.

"I'll be writing you up as well," Heero added, turning to head back to his lunch.

"WHAT?!" Sharon demanded and began to protest but when Heero turned and shot more ice-daggers her way, she clamped her mouth shut. "Understood." _Asshole._

"C'mon, Sharii-chan," Gina said, tugging at her friend's shirt. "Let's go to the dorms, okay? We share a room…"

As Sharon and Gina left, Steph sat down across from Jaenelle and asked, "So, outside of that, how was Tai Chi?"

Jaenelle just laughed and laid her head down on the table with a groan. "This is going to be a _long_ semester," she droned. "A really, really long semester."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Wufei ended up shaving his head and with a rather nasty-looking scab. Sharon's punishment was to write out the _entire_ Confucian Analects… with ink and brush. Oh, and she was the one who had to put the ointment on the wound to make sure it didn't scar.

Steph was trying not to laugh when she went to visit Sharon during her "detention."

"Man, class hasn't even started yet and I'm in _detention,"_ Sharon muttered. "At least my calligraphy's getting better. Ni would be proud if he could see it."

Steph picked up a piece and started giggling. "Did you seriously intend on him seeing this 'Fuck You' written in English?"

"Nah, that's scrap paper. It won't be turned in."

"Okay then," Steph set it down and looked around. "Gosh, it looks like Ni or Smith's office."

"Yeah, I know," Sharon set down her brush and sighed. "It's almost nostalgic. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not at GV and this is a completely new professor."

"How far into the Analects are you?"

"I have no idea. My Chinese isn't fluent. Jae says that if I get lucky, maybe I'll be fluent in Chinese when I'm done."

"Fluent?"

Sharon grinned at the memory. "We went to a temple in Shanghai back in 2005 and this Buddhist monk explained that apparently some foreign women sat down and copied thousands of sutras like how I am now. Suddenly she was fluent in Chinese. I'd need to see it to believe it, but it'd be pretty cool if it did!" she laughed.

"Your _qi_ isn't strong enough," Wufei commented from the doorway as he looked in on them.

"Your hair isn't long enough," Sharon muttered under her breath. "And neither are some other things."

"I heard that," Wufei said with an eyebrow raised. "Perhaps you'd like to copy Mencius too?"

"God dammit, I need to shut the fuck up," Sharon cursed, picking back up her brush.

"Witechowsky, please leave," Wufei said roughly. "You're distracting her."

Apologizing swiftly, Steph removed herself from Wufei's office. She couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Sharon. She honestly hadn't meant to cut off Wufei's ponytail, and she was kind of upset that Wufei had ended up chasing Sharon around the school with a spear. Megh had pointed out that it was rather commendable that Sharon had outrun Wufei until they reached the cafeteria and she had nowhere else to go.

As she wandered down the hallway she suddenly came across a rather tall man with _extremely_ long blonde hair and she sucked in her breath. _That must be Zechs Merquise! _

Indeed it was, and he blinked at Steph for a moment. "Relena?"

At that one single word, Steph wanted to kill herself. "No," she muttered. "I'm not Relena."

Zechs blinked. "You look enough like her to actually confuse her own brother," he commented almost darkly.

"Yeah, I scared the crap out of Heero too when I first showed up," Steph shrugged. "But my eyebrows are darker and I'm shorter."

"So I see," Zechs smiled. "I'm Milliardo, or Zechs, whichever you prefer. And you?"

"Stephanie." They shook hands.

"I think your strikingly similar appearance to my sister will come in handy in the future," Zechs said with a nod. "It was nice to meet you, Stephanie."

"Nice to meet you too." _Oh great, I'll bet I'll end up as her decoy on some mission to protect her or something,_ Steph thought to herself, trying not to groan. Now that was a mission she would _love _to pass up if she could.

She distinctly remembered when she met Heero Yuy for the first time. It had been him and Sally Po who picked her up from the airport when she was lost and dumbfounded as to how she hadn't arrived in Pudong. When Heero had seen her, he'd almost jumped in the air, shocked and frozen. But when he realized she _wasn't_ Relena he'd relaxed instantly. It made her curious as to why the mere act of seeing Relena would make him practically jump six feet in the air. She wanted to ask, but she knew it wasn't her place and Heero would just ask questions as to how she even knew they had a history. It was hard pretending they didn't know anything about their world. It must be harder for Jaenelle and Megh as they were much bigger fans of the show than either she or Gina, so they knew better details about the place than she did.

Her thoughts back on the idea of playing a Relena decoy, Steph couldn't help but make a face. If that was to happen, she really hoped it wasn't anytime soon, because that was seriously the last thing she wanted. Shaking her head at the mental image, she headed towards the gardens where she knew a few of her friends would be waiting.

"That girl is ridiculous," Wufei growled as he entered the teacher's lounge. "Making fun of me for being bald; _who_ does she think is the cause of this anyway?!"

"Whoa, Wufei," Duo turned from the coffee machine and set down the large bag of sugar he'd been pouring into his glass. "Chill. Sharii's getting on your nerves?"

Wufei shot a glare at Duo, gritting his teeth. "You're calling her _Sharii?"_

"Why not?" Duo shrugged. "It's a pet name, and she's cute."

"That _thing_ is _not_ cute," Wufei snapped, pulling a chair back and plopping himself down in it. "If she wasn't so honestly passionate about Tai Chi, I would send her off!"

"Oh? What's this, what's this?" Duo set down his coffee cup before darting over to Wufei. "Passionate about Tai Chi, eh? And she _gets_ to you."

"Maxwell," Wufei warned.

"No, no, it makes perfect sense and it's the perfect romance!" Duo turned away dramatically, raising his hands in front of his face and spreading them out wide. "A Chinese war-veteran, an African-American college graduate, both from completely different worlds but sharing a beautiful passion: _Tai Chi."_

"This is even more ridiculous than she is," Wufei stood up, grimacing.

"Hey! Where're you going?" Duo blinked.

"To talk to someone who has brain cells," Wufei snapped back.

"HEY. I HAVE THOSE," Duo shouted back as Wufei left. "_Why_ does he _always_ have to insult my intelligence? He needs new things to make fun of me for. That's getting old." Shrugging, Duo turned back to his coffee, reaching for the bag of sugar before pausing. "I kind of just acknowledged he's partially right, didn't I? Damn."

Heero looked at the list of names that was in his homeroom. He only recognized two: Jaenelle Kelly and Regina Stewart.

Heero didn't know much about the other cadets; that was what the new semester was for after all. Even in Preventer training the students would play ice-breakers. He would make sure to memorize what everyone said about themselves whether it was something they said voluntarily or if it was the answer to a question someone had asked them. It was important for him to know his students. If he didn't, he wouldn't know what their strengths and weaknesses were and couldn't test them accordingly.

He ran over the list of names again, pausing at Jaenelle's. Staring at it for a few moments, he set it down, feeling a bit frustrated with himself.

To him, she was a bit… different. This was very clear. Sure she was at first glance no different than her friends that had come here. But there was something else, something… deeper, almost elusive. Something that seemed to resonate in him. Like… there was something in common. No, that wasn't it. Was it?

Heero felt it was impossible that anyone had much in common with him at all except for his fellow Gundam Pilots, and even they lacked more often than not. Someone like Jaenelle hadn't lived the life he had; how on earth could she have something in common with him? That was impossible. She'd lived a normal life. She's never been in war or killed someone. She would never know.

Shaking his head and telling himself he was being ridiculous, he raised up his class roster and looked at the list of who was in his homeroom again, forcing himself to not pause at her name. It had bothered him that Noin asked _him_ of all people to be the one Jaenelle would come and talk to. He knew nothing about this kind of thing. He wasn't very good at giving people advice, he felt. Noin would be a better counselor, or even Sally Po who had worked in the medical field for so long. But there was something about the way Noin asked that told Heero he really was the best for the job.

Sighing to himself, Heero glanced at his watch. It was three p.m. on Thursday. Looks like she never came to his office hours. He should be relieved she didn't come.

A heavy feeling in his chest, weighing on him.

Shouldn't he?

Steph's fingers worked out the knots that were in Sharon's hands from writing calligraphy over and over. "I'm gonna kill him," Sharon groaned in her chair.

"I don't recommend that," Megh said from her book; she was sitting in the corner of Gina's bed. They'd all piled in there as it was the largest room and they were the only ones who shared a dorm. The others had single rooms. "You know he'd win. You would've died the other day if Gina hadn't been there."

"Yeah, well, maybe we should try again! Hey Gina, let's go steal the cafeteria's supply of lunch trays and beat the shit outta him," Sharon perked.

Gina shook her head from her seat viciously. She sighed, clicking on her laptop as she surfed the internet. "Sharii-chan, I think it's better you for you to not think about killing a martial artist. He's not like Nick, even though Nick's Chinese too."

Jaenelle entered their dorm then, locking the door behind her. "There's no cookie dough at the convenience store on campus," she announced with a forced pout.

Everybody groaned.

"How often are we allowed _off_ campus?" Steph asked suddenly.

Everyone turned to Gina. She was always the one who figured out the campus schedules back at GV, so undoubtedly she'd pull through now.

"Let's see," Gina mused, pulling up the Preventers' official website and logging in with her student account so she could check. "Says here that we're allowed off campus on Saturdays and Sundays. However, it's only for a limited time. Nine in the morning to eight at night on Saturdays, and on Sundays from seven in the morning to four in the afternoon."

"Shit, that's short," Megh shook her head. "Kind of reminds me of boot camp."

"We have drills and stuff like that too," Steph pointed out. "We had some classes last week, more like demonstrations for new students who arrived early. I guess it was because it was registration time and they wanted to scare away those who weren't serious, but we definitely had drills and they were _not_ fun. Wufei was the harshest-"

"Figures," Sharon muttered venomously.

"-and Heero was pretty hard too," she glanced in Jaenelle's direction, aware of the fact that she'd been a Heero fan-girl. "He doesn't shout like Wufei, but he won't put up with much less than excellent. He'll push you to your best."

"I never could do more than five push-ups in swimming," Jaenelle groaned. "This is going to _kill_ me. I could be… in Shanghai right now."

Steph squeezed Jaenelle's hand the moment she saw tears forming in her friend's eyes. Gina turned in her chair, concern written all over her face.

"Wang," Jaenelle whispered, her voice choking as the tears spilled down her cheeks. Megh and Sharon had also risen at this point. "For two yeas I thought of nothing but seeing him again and on the day I was finally going to see him, to hear his voice… oh god, why? Just… just why!? I worked so hard to graduate on time and now… and now…"

Surrounded by her friends, Jaenelle began to cry. She was never going to see him again, never see his beautiful, soft brown eyes and his beautiful smile…

It was over. It was really over.

"Hey, Jae," Sharon said, sitting back. "At least he knows how you feel, right? You gave him that letter. He'll always know somewhere."

"That _is_ something," Megh nodded.

"That's true," Jaenelle sniffed.

"If you need to cry, then cry," Steph urged gently.

"No," Jaenelle shook her head, a smile on her lips. "I'm fine now."

That was a lie, and all four of them knew it. Sharon wanted to press her further and call her out on it, but if that was how Jaenelle wanted to roll now, then that was that. Eventually she'd talk. Jae wasn't the type to keep something bottled in forever.

She just sincerely hoped she would get over Wang and Shanghai soon. They'd been there for almost a week now. While that wasn't a lot of time, there was absolutely nothing anyone could do. And that was the part that hurt the most. They were stuck there, whether they liked it or not.

"Hey," Gina tugged on Jaenelle's hand. "Check this out, okay? There's a field trip next week. Heero, Quatre, and Duo are going to be the leaders and we're all going to go out to the mountains for a day by the ocean. Why don't we go?"

"Yeah, Wufei isn't going, we should _definitely_ go," Sharon quickly said, smiling her evilly sweet smile.

"But Duo is," Jaenelle pointed out with a slight smirk.

"Lesser of two evils," Sharon waved her hand dismissively. "At least he won't make me copy lines for hours. God."

Being by the mountains and the ocean sounded like a wonderful thing, and something that could maybe cheer her up. And maybe if she was out there, she could find a beauty here, something to hold onto. Besides, she had her best friends. It could be worse. She could be alone.

Yes, that's what she had to keep telling herself.

It could be worse.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Wow, holy eff. My first review! I wasn't expecting one at _all_ so you can imagine my surprise! I don't even ask for reviews, so getting one is an honor.

**Bunch-o-Nuts: **Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! Really, I was afraid that the only people who would be willing to read this crazy thing and actually like it were the people technically 'in' the story. So, I appreciate it lots. Thank you!

**Chapter 6**

Quatre Winner leaned back in his chair and stretched, smiling to himself. It was a beautiful day in May, meaning the new semester was about to start. Unlike most other school systems, their school began in May and ended in early April. It was practically a year-round system with a few breaks here and there. Of course he'd appreciate more breaks since he still had the family business to attend to, what with being the only son and all. Still he managed to get it all done. Duo was dumbfounded most days as to how, but it really was about organization and timing. Quatre was surprised; he thought that out of all people, it would be those that had piloted a Gundam that would be the most organized.

Gundam.

It had been six years since the last time anyone had seen a mobile suit. Thanks to Relena's efforts, things had been pretty quiet. Any small problems were quickly dealt with as the Preventers had the most advanced networking system both on the planet as well as in the space colonies. It seemed nearly impossible that anything huge would come about.

That was why the Preventers had become a non-profit organization. After four years instead of opting for re-election, President Brussels stepped down from his position and a new President, a man named Jenson who had actually once been a member of Romefeller. Originally this caused some initial reactions of distrust from he and his fellow ex-pilots, especially at the beginning when President Jenson declared that they would no longer fund the Preventer organization. However, that was when Jenson entered talks with Lady Une and they'd walked out on an agreement to take on cadets and turn the organization into not only a peace-watch but a school. They would be the only ones who would be trained in this kind of combat and they could be watched more closely as it wasn't like they could take their certification and use it in another job. It seemed logical. Add that to the fact that not many students actually could survive the four-year program and pass, it was a great safety deterrent.

Quatre wasn't fond of the idea. He felt that they should be helping their students more, not restricting them. But he understood the intentions behind it. It was very hard for the world to trust, and equally hard for Quatre to _not_ have the desire to trust completely. But what could you do in a world where people were still very lost? Even though there had been no developments of weapons didn't mean the world was a perfect place.

Things had also changed in the political arena. Where Relena once turned heads and was admired, she was now quietly criticized in whispers for her naivety and lack of professional training. Relena also was stubborn in her ideals that this was the way the world ought to be. Quatre was stuck wondering whether or not the pressure of upholding the image of total pacifism still affected her, even though she was now Relena _Darlian_-Peacecraft.

"I wonder if she's alright," Quatre mused to himself.

They were entering the third year of President Jenson's term in office. This meant that Jenson was bound to take a tour of the entire ESUN, and his first stop was always Preventer headquarters. This would also be the first visit the President would make while there were students in attendance.

Taking the stack of papers and taking a deep breath, Quatre left his office and headed to the sound of students chattering, knowing the time for their assembly was about to begin.

----

Lady Une checked her watch, sighing a bit impatiently as she gazed down the long stretch of driveway. "He's late," she sighed.

"That's fine," Wufei remarked from her left. "Quatre is just starting the announcements now. Barton says he received a call that he might be a half-hour late."

"It would've been a lot better had he given us an exact date," Sally Po said, sounding a bit exasperated as she came through the doors. "This is their first day of classes and now they're shortened to a half-day instead! Not only that, but the new students are going to have to do demonstrations when they have _no_ idea what they're doing, all for the sake of publicity!"

Wufei made no comment, only a snort that left both Sally and Une exchanging glances.

"Wufei, do the students even know that President Jenson is coming?" Sally asked after a moment.

"No," Wufei shrugged.

"No?!" Une and Sally echoed.

"_We_ didn't know either," Wufei pointed out, crossing his arms. "Preventer Elemental handles all of the boring political work, am I correct? Preventer Five just trains the cadets and gets shipped off to dangerous missions. Let's just forget it. They'll know soon enough."

---

Indeed Wufei was right. Quatre cleared his throat as he stood behind the podium; Heero, Duo, and Trowa were seated in chairs on the stage. Duo looked clearly bored, Trowa looked mildly interested and Heero had his eyes closed. The students were chattering away, not really knowing what all this was about.

"So," Quatre said into the microphone, tapping it a few times to get everyone's attention. Sure enough, everyone fell silent. "We have a bit of a semi-emergency, but we can make an adventure out of it!" he added at the end.

A few people exchanged looks, some whispered. Duo coughed to hide his laughter.

"Um, well, there is no easy way of saying this, so here goes," Quatre shrugged and put on his best smile. "The President of the World Nation, President Jenson, is coming here today. In fact, he's supposed to be here any minute, but I think he's been delayed a half-hour according to what Instructor Barton just told me."

The whispers increased.

"Here comes the bad news," Quatre smiled sheepishly. "This is all about his re-election, and he wants to show off his efforts. It was President Jenson who helped establish the Preventer Organization into both a peace-watch and a school, so he wants to market his success with the school. What does this mean?

"Basically, we are going to have to show off what we have," Quatre continued, looking around the room. "We're going to have to toss some of you head-first into huge projects. If there's too many students in the classroom, this won't help his publicity. I know, I know, I don't like it either. But this means some of you are going to be doing things like aerial flight or be on the shooting ranges or obstacle courses without previous experience."

"Oh my fucking hell," came a voice loudly from the back. Sharon, of course.

"So, that's that," Quatre shrugged. "I'm really sorry, everyone! To be honest, I don't like it either. But please know that we're going to be watching and monitoring for safety and your safety comes first!"

"If their safety comes first, then why are we putting them in these situations to begin with?" Heero commented from behind Quatre.

"I predict at least five students will die and Jenson will lose the re-election," Duo joked. "Hey Trowa, you wanna make a bet on that? Tomorrow's lunch!"

"Not particularly," Trowa sighed.

"Okay, everyone!" Quatre clapped his hands, holding in his nervous laughter at what Duo said. "When I call off your names, you will be in groups with one of the instructors. Instructor Chang is outside, so your group will wait here for him. Anyway! Alexander, Jessica! Anderson, James! Andrews, Amanda..."

---

"Great," Sharon sighed as she was strapped in a chair. "Figures I'd get stuck _flying. _Fuck. I am gonna die._"_

Gina waved from her seat. Sharon tried to wave, but she was too busy focusing on impending doom. "Where's Jae and Steph?" Sharon asked.

"Jae is in Wufei's group doing hand-to-hand combat," Gina answered. "I think Steph's in the tactics group with Duo."

"And Megh?"

"At the shooting range with Heero," she shrugged. "She said it was fine with her as long as she wasn't in tactics or flying."

"In other words, if her ass wasn't grass like ours are right now," Sharon muttered viciously.

"Pretty much," Gina agreed.

Sharon loved roller coasters. She loved the thrill of it, loved the way they shot her up and down and all around. But what she _didn't _like was free-falling, and what she was about to hate was the fact that she was going to soon have no idea what the hell she was doing.

Sharon predicted Gina would do well. Gina always managed to get herself out of trouble. Herself on the other hand? She sure as hell hoped that glass was really thick, because if she busted the windows in the anti-gravity chamber then she and the others probably would die. Or maybe just her. That was kind of the way her luck went.

Trowa entered the room then and gave Gina and Sharon a somewhat apologetic look as he approached. "You two are my only new students, and unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to explain, but I'll try to break down the process."

"I certainly hope you do it in plain English because if not, I am f-u-c-k-e-d," Sharon sighed.

Trowa ignored Sharon's remark. "You have two controls. They probably remind you of video-game joysticks. They work the same, but the different buttons do different things. The top button on the right controls the jets on the top while the top button on the left handles the jets on the bottom. The way you turn the joystick affects which direction it'll turn. Tap the button lightly; if you tap it too hard there will be too much force. The buttons are sensitive. The trigger buttons handle these." Trowa lifted his right hand and lightly rapped it against two holes on either side of the top next to their heads. "Those shoot paintballs."

"Paintballs?" Gina echoed.

"Yes, and they _will_ hurt," Trowa warned. "The color of your paintball matches the colors of your seatbelts, which is the color of whatever team you are on."

Gina and Sharon looked down and then snapped their heads back up to look at each other. "We're on different sides!" Sharon hissed in a panic. Gina whimpered, looking up at Trowa wide-eyed.

"This is somewhat a free-for-all, though only four of you will be shot into the room at a time," Trowa explained as he stood up and started to walk away.

"Shot?"

Trowa pressed a rather large red button and suddenly their seats were yanked backwards at an incredible speed while a large garage door opened, sirens blasting. "HOLY SHIT OH MY FUCKING SHIT!" Sharon screamed as she saw other chairs being deployed into the anti-gravity chamber. Gina was frozen in her seat looking horrified.

Suddenly they were no longer on the track but literally _floating_. Gina wasn't sure how to describe the sensation. She existed and yet… she felt light as a feather. The situation on its own would've been wonderful if suddenly a large gold blob didn't fling past her nose. Jerking both of her joysticks left, that was when she noticed the opposing team. She also noticed the boy had a helmet with goggles on.

Neither she or Sharon did.

Trowa must've realized it then too because he stood at the window, opened his mouth slightly and uttered a word Gina was quite sure probably only had four letters.

"Oh my_ fucking HELL!"_ Sharon shouted, jerking her joysticks as someone on Gina's team fired several shots at her. "CUT THAT SHIT OUT, I DON'T FUCKING HAVE A HELMET ON!"

"She can't hear you!" Gina shouted. "She's got a helmet on!"

Gina's previous opponent suddenly angled themselves forward and shot with their bottom jets in Gina's direction. Thinking quickly, Gina fired her own rounds but they didn't deter or slow down her opponent. Yelping, she pressed one of the buttons for her jetpack; the right one, thankfully, and she shot out of the way just in time.

Meanwhile, Sharon was in full combat with the girl who had fired at her before. Due to the anti-gravity her long purple hair was _everywhere,_ making it hard for Sharon to see. "Damn fuck shit!" she cursed, wanting to raise a hand to clear her vision but unable to with her opponent firing and shooting at her all the time. "Fuck it, I need some god damn _space_," she growled and slammed her thumb on the right jetpack button.

Unfortunately for Sharon, that was _not_ the direction she'd hoped to go. Instead the jets from the top of her chair roared and she shot down, down, down. Sharon jerked her thumb away, but the button was smashed in due to her force. Remembering Trowa's words about tapping gently, she suddenly wanted to kill herself for being a slightly aggressive gamer right then.

Trowa's words rang over the loudspeaker, "_Sharon! _What are you _doing?"_ his voice boomed in more than his usual light monotone.

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW!" she screamed back.

"_TURN OR YOU ARE GOING TO CRASH!"_

Sharon looked down and realized that the floor was getting a little close. Deciding she didn't want to smash into the pavement she pushed down just at the last second. The bottom of her flying chair moved first and she screamed as she saw her face heading for the pavement. Releasing the joysticks she was now straightened, her nose less than an inch from being ground off on the cement floor. "INSTRUCTOR BARTON!!!" she shrieked.

"Stop pressing down on the jetpack button!" Trowa's voice snapped.

"_I'M NOT PRESSING IT!"_

"…Shit."

"SHARII-CHAN, YOU'RE GOING TO CRASH!" Gina screamed.

Sharon barely heard her over the roar of her jetpacks but she turned her head slightly to see the wall. "OH MY GOD!" she screamed and pushed down on the joysticks again.

Her chair turned sharply. Due to how close to the ground she was, the top part smashed hard against the pavement, narrowly missing her head. Unfortunately being that was where the jetpacks were blasting, it threw off her central direction and Sharon was now sent at a completely odd angle, rotating. "SOMEONE FUCKING HELP ME!" she screamed.

A siren sounded and another chair was deployed. Instead of being _in_ the chair, however, Trowa Barton was standing on top of the seat, riding it as it shot towards Sharii. Timing it perfectly, Trowa leap, spinning, directly at Sharii's chair. Within seconds he opened a door on the back and pressed a button, silencing the jets. Due to the lack of gravity, however, they continued to shoot at an incredible speed towards the ceiling.

Sharon was screaming as Trowa used his weight to flip the chair forward. Pressing the same button he pressed before, Trowa leaned over and took the left joystick, tapping the button that controlled the bottom jets. He swung around another time, now using the strength in his legs to hold himself on Sharon's chair while he interchangeably tapped both of the top buttons, both jets firing back and forth, slowing down the chair until finally it floated peacefully.

"Well," Trowa breathed a sigh of relief. "That's the most excitement I've had since the war. Not sure if that's a good thing."

Sharon just sagged in her seat, cackling a little.

Gina held her hand over her chest, finally breathing again.

Just outside the window, President Jenson and his filming crew were staring in awe at the spectacle that had just taken place. "Is this normal?" he demanded of Une.

"No, actually," Une insisted, casting worrying glances at Trowa and his students. "It's really not! It was an accident, sir. Truthfully."

Jenson scowled. "I had better hope so. And I also hope that_ all_ of your students wear helmets, unlike _those_ two. That kind of image will ruin my re-election if the parents get a hold of this footage!"

Une took a deep breath and counted to five. "Yes, sir. Just hang around and a new group of more experienced students will be up shortly. They will be fine, sir."

"They'd better, "he snorted.

Inside the chamber, Gina couldn't help but wonder if the others were faring any better than them.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Megh was frustrated. She'd never held a gun in her life, nor had she ever shot one, so this was nothing but massive fail as far as she was concerned. She was also the only new student. What, were she and the others the _only_ new students in a school of 1,800? Somehow she wouldn't be surprised if she was.

However, the fact that clay pigeons were exploding around her didn't exactly make her feel much better about herself. Why _were_ they firing guns anyway? Wasn't this supposed to be a _peaceful_ era? It made no damn sense!

Heero was walking behind the students, observing them as they fired at the clay pigeons. Some of the students were getting better, but they were still lazy with their firing. He needed to get it in their heads that just because the pigeon exploded upon impact with a bullet didn't mean they were actually shooting _well._ Though for some of them, it meant they weren't failing miserably at their task.

Such was the case he could see with Megh, who was getting more and more visibly frustrated by the minute.

Heero wasn't sure how to approach her. He really just wasn't good with females; he'd discovered that quickly during his first semester even of teaching. First of all, girls were highly outnumbered in this school. There were four males to every one female. Secondly, girls were very emotional. Being that Heero's previous occupations for so long kept him away from exploring things such as emotions and social interaction so he was always at a loss when it came to female students. During his first year of teaching, one girl ended up pregnant by another male student and spent two hours crying in his office hysterically. He remembered all too well what it was like when she came into his office.

The door had flung open and the girl ran in, her tears streaked black from her mascara that was now running down her face while she sobbed. "INSTRUCTOR YUYYYYYYY!" she had wailed, dropping on her knees and folding her arms on his desk, sobbing over the paperwork he had been trying to complete. "I DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

"What…" Heero began, but he had been cut off with her despairing sob of, "I'M PREGNANT OH MY GOD I'M PREGNANT! NURSE PO CHECKED ME OUT AND I'M _PREGNANT!"_

_Couldn't she have just stayed in Sally Po's office then instead?_ Heero couldn't help but wonder at the time as she shook violently from the sobs.

"I _CAN'T _BE PREGNANT!" she wailed, leaning her head back and screaming. "I DON'T KNOW HOW IT HAPPENED. I JUST DON'T KNOW HOW IT HAPPENED."

Didn't know how? Heero blinked. Had she never even had a basic life science course? "Well, it-"

"I CAN'T BE PREGNANT IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE IT WAS ONLY ONE TIME AND HE WAS REALLY CUTE AND WE WERE BOTH DRUNK IN MY ROOM!!"

Heero frowned at this. "Aren't you under-"

"WHAT AM I GONNA DO OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG GOD I SWEAR!!"

At that point Heero had noticed the crowd of students gathered outside his office. When he had tried to get up to shut the door, she'd ended up clutching onto him sobbing and wailing, forcing him back in his chair while she sobbed all over his khaki pants. He never really did manage to get the black mascara fully out.

The second time he'd dealt with female students was because for some unknown reason he still didn't grasp they had gotten into a fight in the hallway. When he was breaking up the fight, one of the girls had caught his face trying to claw the other. From that day forward, Heero declared to himself that girls were just very hard to deal with.

So he had no idea what to do with girls. He admitted to himself that he'd rather avoid all emotional female encounters with his students most likely the rest of his life. But he was the instructor for the hour, and hopefully she wasn't _too_ emotional about this.

Not knowing where to begin, Heero stood a bit off to the side and stated, "You're not aiming properly."

That was the wrong answer. Megh turned sharply and glared at Heero, her lips going into almost a feline-like snarl. "Well, you know, if you hadn't just fucking put me on the field when I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, then maybe I'd know how to aim right!"

Well. She did have a point. And after firing shots for a good half hour missing every target, he understood her frustration a little. Then again, he unfortunately had been very talented at firing at targets since he was small. She was an adult, technically, just like him.

Taking out his own gun, Heero raised it with both hands instead of the one as he usually did; one-handed shots were for someone with far more experience and he wasn't about to do too advanced of a demonstration. "Look directly down the center of your gun. The line is etched in there for a reason. It needs to be perfectly level with your eye," he explained. "Don't blink."

"Kind of hard not to blink," Megh commented dryly.

"Try," Heero insisted.

Megh raised her arms, trying to look down the line and somehow manage to look ahead as well. The others made it so effortless-

A blur of gray. Megh pulled the trigger, but it missed completely.

"You missed," Heero stated.

At that, Megh turned to him, fuming. "How is _that_ supposed to help me? I _know_ I missed!" She clamped her mouth shut. The last thing she needed to do was cuss out Heero Yuy for his awkward, useless help. Especially considering he was now her instructor. She was trying not to be frustrated, she really was, but she couldn't help it. Everyone around her was doing so damn well and the clay pigeons seemed to be almost mocking her with their rising and falling.

"Watch," Heero said simply. He held out the gun in front of him. As the clay pigeon moved, so did his arms. They remained only slightly bent at the elbows, but his arms always pointed in the same direction of the clay pigeons. Effortlessly he shot down three, perfectly as they came up and waiting for them to be high enough in the air for himself to demonstrate. "Follow their movement with your gun, but keep your eye down the center of it. Understand?"

"Yeah," Megh shrugged.

Heero lowered his arms, a bit put off by her negativity. He wanted to shake his head and walk away, but that probably wouldn't do anything for her self-esteem right now. He had to be patient. "Try again," he encouraged.

Megh raised her arms reluctantly as President Jenson came walking down the aisle, escorted by his filming team and Lady Une. "Ah, Preventer Heero Yuy!" Jenson said with a smile. "Your students are as perfect as you."

Megh winced at hearing that last statement. _Yeah, sure,_ she thought to herself, cursing her luck. _Everyone but me._

"Mister President," Heero replied courteously.

"And who is this lovely young lady?" the president asked, smiling warmly and fully aware that the camera was on him.

_Great. Just great. I am anything but lovely right now and the President of the Unified Nation is about to film me for his campaign. _Megh forced the best smile she could potentially manage while wishing she could just disappear. "I'm Megh," she replied simply.

"Megh…?"

"Megh O'Connor."

"Megh, why don't you show us everything Preventer Yuy has taught you so far?" President Jenson asked before turning to the camera and putting one hand on Heero's shoulder, patting him enthusiastically. "Heero here and I are buddies, isn't that right?"

Not knowing any other option at the moment, Heero nodded once for the sake of the camera, trying not to be too obvious that this was not exactly as warm of a friendship as the President would like the viewers to think.

"Excellent," President Jenson smiled warmly. "Now Megh, why don't you demonstrate your lovely skills?"

_Figures he'd put me on the spot considering I'm standing with Heero. Too bad I can't shoot _him Megh couldn't help but think at the moment. She raised the gun towards the field, sighing.

Just as she was pulling the trigger, another shot rang at the exact same time. There was a loud crash as the president was flung backwards against the wire fence. Students screamed.

_Oh fucking god,_ Megh thought, looking down at her gun. _Please do _not _tell me that somehow I ended up shooting the guy!_

Instead, Heero was gone from where he had stood, booking it as fast as possible, his own gun drawn as he chased a figure wearing a ski-mask running from the scene. Whoever they were, they were a student, left-handed, and they were male. That much Heero could figure out. They were also still armed. He needed to take them out without opening fire unless they shot at him first. That was what protocol dictated. If he could shoot at them now in a place like the upper thigh he would; there was no doubt he could get them. But he couldn't do that and risk a lawsuit of some kind.

Whoever had shot Jenson was heading straight for the field where Wufei was teaching. Heero could make out the students as he ran, catching up slowly with the trying to flee student. The groups that had been on that field had slowed down in their formations, turned to look and watch the spectacle that was about to take place. "_FREEZE!" _Heero shouted. "Stop where you are!"

To his surprise, the boy froze, but not before turning around and opening fire on Heero. The bullet whizzed by; this kid was no pro, but he cut it close. Aiming for his left shoulder, Heero opened fire.

The student jerked out of the way, anticipating that Heero would open fire after he did. Heero's bullet flew through the air, straight and true and ended up hitting a female student in the arm. She fell, screaming as Wufei and the other students closed in on her.

_Damn, damn, damn! _There was no time to see if she was alright; Jenson's gunman was escaping. Deciding enough was enough and that he had already opened fire, Heero went with his usual plan: he sent two shots, one in each leg, neither in a fatal point. The boy fell, howling.

Coming in on the boy and grabbing him by the back of shirt, Heero ripped off the ski mask. He recognized the boy instantly from one of his classes. A third-year student by the name of Maslin.

"Why have you done this?" Heero demanded in a cold, almost emotionless monotone.

The boy laughed bitterly. "_Solet ed_," he replied.

Before Heero could react, he pointed his own gun up and shot himself in the jaw through the back of his head. Blood splattered.

Setting down the boy and looking down at what had once been a proficient student, Heero went over his last words in his mind as well as the sheer facts. The boy hadn't used rubber bullets. Rubber bullets were the only thing equipped in the guns provided for the students. He would have to seize the gun and an autopsy would have to be done right away. They needed to know where he got the bullets from.

"_Yuy!"_ Wufei screamed.

Heero snapped to attention. He had almost forgotten. Turning, he sprinted towards the crowd that had gathered around the girl he'd accidentally shot. Her brown hair was a mess, all around her face and she was clutching her arm as tears fell down her face. Blood too was falling.

"I'm sorry," Heero said as he knelt down next to the girl. They seemed like pathetic words at a time like this, but he couldn't think of anything else to say. "I'll take you to the infirmary myself."

Sliding one hand under her knees and wrapping the other around her waist, Heero lifted the girl up and looked down into the frightened face of Jaenelle Kelly.

His mouth moved, but no words came out. "I… I…"

"You didn't mean to," she offered with a shaky smile. "But can we p-please get moving?"

"I… of course," Heero nodded firmly, taking off at a run towards the athletics infirmary while his heart pounded in his chest, his mind filling with thoughts of self-hatred for what had happened. Stupid, stupid, _stupid! _The students knew the code as well as anyone else; of course Maslin would have known that he would open fire on him! Perhaps that's what he was looking for, a distraction so he could make a quick getaway. They'd never know now. Maslin was dead.

"Instructor?"

Heero snapped out of his thoughts, kicking open the door. "Yes?"

"Um… you're hurting me."

Heero looked down and realized just how tightly he had been gripping Jaenelle. He must've been too angry with himself to realize what he was doing. "Sorry," he muttered, blushing slightly and giving him another reason to hate himself as he set her down on the exam table. "Raise up your arm above the level of your heart," he snapped. "It'll slow down the blood flow. I'm phoning Sally Po now."

"Chang-laoshi already did," she offered. "Nurse Po should be here at any moment."

Nodding, Heero took a look at the wound in her arm, grabbing a bandage and dabbing at it. She didn't even wince, which surprised him. Maybe she was too shocked by the wound to feel anything right now. That happened when the human body went into shock. "It's not a very deep wound," he announced after a moment. "You were nicked."

She looked relieved and nodded. "Thank god."

"I'm… very sorry," Heero repeated, looking down at the ground in shame. He wasn't sure his words would ever express just how sorry he was that he accidentally shot a student. He'd never hit an innocent bystander before.

Except…

"You're still the Perfect Soldier, y'know."

Heero's head snapped up and he stared at her, incredulous. "What did you just say?" he demanded in a shocked whisper.

Jaenelle stuttered, shrinking a bit. "I…"

Just then the doors burst open and Sally Po rushed in, accompanied by Noin. "Miss Kelly, please hand me your arm," Sally demanded.

"Heero, the President is demanding to see you," Noin sighed as she set down supplies next to Jaenelle, moving out of Sally's way. "He's alive, and… well, really pissed off."

Nodding, Heero stood up and glanced at Jaenelle, who was engrossed in listening to whatever Sally had to say. How had she known he was called 'the Perfect Soldier'? It shocked him, frightened him, and yet somehow comforted him.

Shoving away all of those feelings, Heero pushed the door open and headed across the field in a brisk walk instead of a run to meet the very upset President Jenson and endure whatever the man had to say.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **OMGOSH AM I EMBARRASSED. I definitely uploaded a chapter of a _VERY OLD, REALLY _BAD fanfic that I haven't touched since 2002 (yes, literally) instead of the real thing! I am very sorry!!! Thanks to everyone who let me know my error… eek!

Anyway, I really am seriously shocked that people are putting this story on their watch or their favorites list! You all are awesome and I appreciate it so very much. It motivates me to keep writing!

**FlameSaybre08: **Thank you for your kind words! I'm sure the fact that it's non-yaoi and has OCs is a reason why no one is giving this fic the time of day. However, I write for my friends and they're the ones whose opinions matter most. The fact that you even gave it a second thought is _very _wonderful to me. Thank you again!

**NarniaRulez: **Thank you also for enjoying my story! Writing the scene with Wufei was probably my favorite; he is going to be bothered by Jaenelle and Sharon very much in the future, as they're the resident Chinese-culture nuts.

**Bunch-o-nuts: **The reason why they are continuing to 'fail at life' so to speak is because quite honestly, this is what would likely happen. Heero definitely also didn't have the time to properly help Megh before Jenson showed up. I'm sure over time the girls will get MUCH better, but that's months down the line.  Thanks again!

**Chapter 8**

Heero Yuy was declared by President Jenson as insufficient on public television the following morning.

The entire school gathered to watch the television in the assembly hall. Everyone was dead silent as they listened to what was on the television.

"Not _only _has former Gundam Pilot Yuy failed to protect the president when he was within a hand-span of him," a female spokesperson declared coldly as the cameras zoomed in on a bed-ridden President Jenson. "But he also recklessly opened fire on the gunman, _missed_, and hit another student. He also failed to prevent the gunman from committing suicide even though the gunman was literally in his grasp. This proves that Mister Yuy is insufficient not only for the Preventers Organization as an active member, but also as a teacher. Is that the kind of person you want to teach future generations of Preventers? He is incapable-"

The television screen went black. An angry Duo chucked the remote across the room, shattering it.

"That's bullshit," Sharon declared, her voice rising as she stood up. "There is nothing wrong with Heero- I mean, fuck, _Instructor_ Yuy's actions! C'mon, it's obvious he's using this to get a sympathy vote!"

The rest of the students murmured in agreement, their voices rising as they discussed it. Heero sat in his chair on the podium, wordless.

"Heero Yuy isn't going anywhere," Lady Une snapped as she entered the room, flanked by Noin and Zechs. "We aren't funded by the government, though we work closely with them. They can't tell us what to do with our Preventers, and they certainly haven't gained the right and respect of being able to shift positions within the organization. Heero Yuy stays."

The students cheered at this. Heero blinked, a bit of surprise flashing in his eyes as he looked around the room. _They… still want me? They still want me to stay?_

"When I went to visit her today," one of the female students spoke up. "Jae wasn't upset with him at all. She called him the Perfect Soldier. Well, I say once the Perfect Soldier, _always_ the Perfect Soldier!"

Once again, cheers arose from the students as Heero frowned slightly. He was going to have to have a talk with Jaenelle about where she heard that title from.

"But there's still a problem," Quatre addressed. "We also cannot ignore the wishes of the people. We need their trust because without it, there is no point in the Preventers. If the people can't trust our peace-watch and they know we're the only ones with any kind of weapons training, we may be forced to disband anyway. The fact that the gunman happened to be one of our own is also questionable. First we need to protect the name of both the Preventers Organization as well as Heero himself. But how?"

"Leave that to me," a light, feminine voice spoke clearly from the doorway.

Everyone turned to see a girl dressed in quite formal attire standing there with a full smile of confidence.

"Relena?" Heero blinked.

"Why hello there, Princess," Duo laughed. "Come to save your knight this time instead of the other way around?"

Heero shot Duo a look.

"I have full confidence in Heero," Relena said as she entered the room followed by Pargan and her secretary, Chris Marley. "As I do the Preventers. Hopefully my influence in the government will be enough to persuade them to think otherwise. I've already been invited to the first round of conferences."

"You'll keep us informed?" Une asked kindly.

"Naturally," Relena nodded. "It's the least I can do for all the times the Preventers have protected me. And I believe in all of you," she added as she looked around the room, her gaze stopping at Heero. "Truly, I do."

Heero only nodded once in her direction.

"That settles it then," Une smiled. "We'll resume class as per usual on the morrow. You all have a free day. But no leaving campus!" she added quickly when most of the students shot to their feet and made beelines for the door.

"They've already started talking," Relena confessed as she climbed the small stairs and came on the stage.

"Then it's time for us to talk then," Une sighed.

Heero looked down in his lap and clenched his fists.

----

Jaenelle shot up from her lazy position in bed. "Declared Heero as insufficient?" she asked, shocked.

"Yeah, it's some bull," Megh snorted.

"The president's just a publicity-whore who wants to make himself look good any way he can," Sharon snorted. "This is normal. He's a politician. It's what they do." She looked around and commented, "You know, this hospital wing isn't that creepy. Hey, remember that level from Silent Hill-"

"Please don't, I have to sleep here," Jaenelle shuddered.

There was a sharp knock on the door and Duo entered the room, grinning from ear to ear. "I brought presents for the patient," he declared as if he were proud of himself.

"Presents?" Jaenelle echoed.

Duo tossed some papers lightly on the foot of her bed. "Yeah, your notes for tomorrow. You're excused from class," he explained.

"Oh _lord,_" Sharon moaned, collapsing on the empty bed next to Jaenelle's. "Hep meh, hep meh, I gots abomidable pains, somebody take meh to the hap'sital, oh Jesus!"

Duo rolled his eyes. "No Jesus here. Only the God of Death!"

Sharon sat up quickly. "Well, I don't wanna die, so I guess I'll go to class!"

Duo sighed and looked at Jaenelle. "Hey, where did you hear that Heero was called 'The Perfect Soldier'?"

All three girls froze, exchanging looks from the corners of their eyes.

"Uh," Sharon gulped. "Ya see, what had happened was…"

Duo raised an eyebrow, his expression grim. "I'm serious, guys. That kind of title for Heero doesn't appear except on certain types of information. You know what kind of information?"

"No," Megh replied warily.

"Oh, you know, _classified_ information."

"Shit," Sharon laughed. Jaenelle looked like she wished the bullet hadn't just nicked her.

"Talk," Duo snapped. "We already have some reason to distrust you guys since we really have no idea where the hell you are from and for all we know, all that stuff you gave us could be total shit and lies. So you better come clean and pronto."

Sharon opened her mouth, angry, but Jaenelle answered, "I can tell you, but I need someone to go to my room and grab my carry-on from the flight."

"Why?" Duo demanded, extremely wary.

"It's better I show you," Jaenelle explained, then added quickly, "You know we don't have anything. We haven't even left campus at all since our stay here and I know you guys searched our stuff."

"Alright, alright," Duo sighed. "I get ya. _One _of you can go," he amended when both Sharon and Megh got up to leave. "And I pick the one without the purple hair."

"Dammit, how come?" Sharon demanded as Megh laughed.

"Because I need _some_ form of entertainment while we wait for Megh to get back," Duo winked.

"Oh, fuck you."

"Maybe later, after you graduate."

----

"Solet ed?" Trowa repeated.

"Yeah," Quatre mused as he stirred his tea, sitting back in his office chair. "Heero says those were Maslin's last words."

"Hm," Trowa leaned back slightly in his own chair, propping his elbow in one hand and resting his free hand underneath his chin. "It's not Latin."

"I didn't think it was," Quatre sighed, closing his laptop. "And it's certainly not Arabic, nor Japanese or Chinese. I've been researching it all day."

"Chang and Heero have too," Trowa pointed out. "We're at a complete loss. Maybe it's a group within the school? We should probably have the students interrogated."

"Une suggested that earlier, hence why we're giving them the day off," Quatre nodded. "Makes it easier to question, especially since they aren't allowed off campus."

"They'll whisper about the questioning to each other," Trowa pointed out.

"Ah, but that's the genius of it," Quatre leaned back, looking only a little relieved. "Heero and Duo installed some bugs around the school to pick up on any and every conversation that goes on in the next twenty-four hours. If anyone says anything to someone else, we'll hear it."

"Perfect," Trowa nodded, a slight smile forming on his face.

"The plan is, but I don't like the idea of students forming any groups in the school for this kind of purpose," Quatre said grimly. "How are we supposed to protect peace if we're the ones cultivating those with the skills necessary to disturb it again?"

The words circling in his head like a shark ready to strike at its prey, Trowa lowered his hand and looked down at the ground, reality eating at him. "I don't know, Quatre. I really don't know."

----

Duo stopped flipping through the 'manga' and set it down gently, a look of shock on his face. "Whoa," he whispered.

Jaenelle, Megh, and Sharon all exchanged nervous laughter.

"So, someone wrote a story that is _identical_ to the world we live in now?" Duo asked with a startled-sounding laugh. "That's… I have no words. Whoa. Just whoa. That's how you knew about Heero's nickname."

"I wasn't really thinking when I mentioned it," Jaenelle shrugged. "I figured it was common knowledge. It did shock Heero, though."

"You freaked him out," Duo confessed. "But _man_, this is actually really cool in the creepiest way possible!" he picked up the manga and flipped through the pages.

"Tell us about it," Sharon muttered.

Duo shook his head. "No wonder Steph was like a scared rabbit for the first three days she was here. Every time she saw me, she'd squeak and take off in the other direction until I scared the crap out of her at lunch. That's when she first gave me her meat, 'cause I noticed she wasn't eating it." Duo flipped through the manga again. "_Episode Zero,_ huh?" He set it down and winked at them. "I think I'll keep this a secret from Heero and the others for now. They'd flip out in more ways than one. And don't worry, no one will know. Not even Heero and he's my best bud."

"What about the fact that I kind of blurted out that Heero's called the Perfect Soldier?" Jaenelle asked, looking concerned.

"Oh, don't worry about it. If he asks you, just say that I accidentally mentioned it. I'll take the heat for it," Duo shrugged with a wide grin. "Hey, can I keep this for a while?"

"Go ahead," Jaenelle said, gesturing that it wasn't a problem. "Not like I need any reminders for a while."

"You know the only thing that sucks? They named their adaptation of our lives after _Heero's _Gundam. Feh!" Duo snorted. "Pilot 02's better than Pilot 01 _any_ day. It should've been called _Gundam Deathscythe,_ not _Gundam Wing!"_

"That sounds like a morbid Halloween story though," Megh pointed out.

"True. But the God of Death is _way_ cooler."

All of them laughed as Duo flopped back on the edge of Jaenelle's bed. "This is really cool. I feel like I got to know you guys better now, and that's pretty awesome." Sitting back up he gave them a thumbs-up. "Friends, okay? Honestly, friends. Not just students to teacher. Got it? Even you, Sharii," he added with a wink.

Sharon sighed dramatically, though a smile definitely formed on her face. "Okay. Friends."

"Friends," they all repeated.

Sitting back, Duo cheesed, "So, do you _really_ have anything else braided?"

Sharon decked him with the spare pillow.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **To be honest, I'm a bit nervous about posting this chapter and the next. _I _liked them, my _friends_ liked them, but who knows if my faithful readers will? Then again, this story is for Sharon, Gina, Megh, and Steph anyway so I suppose it doesn't matter. Anywho! I_completely_ forgot to mention this in earlier chapters: "laoshi" is Mandarin for "teacher." Since most people who read anime-based fanfiction know some basic Japanese words, it's basically just like "sensei," however the literal Japanese equivalent of the characters for _laoshi_ are the same as the Japanese _roshi,_ or "master."

**Chapter 9**

The seasons began to change as time passed. Late spring gave birth to summer, one of the hottest they had ever seen and the most grueling one to ever train under, especially for complete newbies who really had no idea what they were doing. The sun beat down every day on their backs, often with very little clouds and sparse, rare rain. As August approached and arrived, the heat at noon was less intense and the first trimester was over. The final smells of summer were in the air as the humidity was finally fading at night.

The summer had been quiet. None of the questioning had lead to anywhere, and Relena's persuasion had worked, whatever she'd done. President Jenson was still willing to be publicly wary of Heero and demanded that he make an apology of some kind. Instead, Une had written a letter that she forced Heero to sign in ink and sent it off. The President had accepted it and announced that things had been "settled." He was now back on his campaign tour, probably wearing his arm in a sling a bit longer than he needed to.

With their last class behind them, this was the last time they really had to take a break before the first of the trimester exams would rear its ugly head. At the students' instance (along with Duo's) it was decided that there would be a picnic barbeque on the Friday before the weekend before finals. There were no clouds in the sky; only the twinkling of the stars in their night sky. Conversation was light and happy as hot dog buns were being placed on tables while Trowa and Quatre lit up the grill. Duo was arguing with Lady Une over whether or not the wine coolers he'd brought could stay or whether or she'd allow him to card students. He was losing the argument.

Jaenelle stretched and sighed happily, twirling in circles for no real reason other than the simple joy of the way it felt to watch her skirt twirl with it. "It's a beautiful night!" she declared openly, a wide smile on her face as she looked down at her friends sitting on the ground. "I wish all nights were like this!"

Having carried the two large coolers on his shoulders, Heero set them down next to the tables in time to watch Jaenelle spin and talk happily. She hadn't held the accident against him in the least and in fact her wound had healed nicely. There was barely a scar at all thanks to Sally Po's treatments along with some of Wufei's Chinese medicines. His lips tugged in the barest hint of a smile at the memory of her and Sharon trying to pronounce what they were called.

"Stop being so damn happy," Sharon snapped, laughing.

"You first," Jaenelle stuck out her tongue and laughed, spinning again and closing her eyes.

Heero watched her, almost mesmerized. The sight of her was breathtaking. Was that was it was like to be carefree? Sure he'd seen some of the students walk about and chatter like nothing important was going on, and he'd certainly seen Duo act like he was care_less_. But he'd never watched something like this before. Her smile was bright, light like a feather, and her eyes seem to sparkle their green color, even though the only light they had came from the stars, the building a few hundred feet away, and the campfire that Quatre was tending to.

_I wish,_ Heero suddenly found himself thinking as he watched her laugh and dance, _I wish I could learn how to feel like that. How to _be _like that. To laugh like that._

Duo approached then, raising up his hand for a high-five. Jaenelle slapped it in the appropriate manner as Duo clamped his fingers around her hand and shook it, laughing. Whatever expression Heero had had before, it was now a frown. He wanted to erase Duo out of the picture, to break his wrist for what he'd just done. The sudden anger that washed through Heero shocked him, left him blinking in total confusion. What was _wrong_ with him? This was normal Duo behavior! No reason for him to get angry. That was pathetic of him. He knew Duo had become friends with the girls. He _knew_ it. Why was he so angry?

Thinking he was going crazy, Heero turned his attention quickly to the grill and decided joining Trowa in cooking the hotdogs and other meats was a good idea. Usually he liked to always employ Odin Lowe's statement of, "The best thing in life is to follow one's emotions," but he had no idea what was going on right now in the slightest. Therefore it was better to just ignore it.

Meanwhile the other students were slowly emerging from the doors, all of them chatting excitedly in anticipation for the cook-out. "Hey, you know something?" Sharon said as she poured Skittles in her hand. "Today's the day that the trip ends. Well, over in China anyway."

Jaenelle stopped dancing. Everyone else held a somber look.

"You're right," Jaenelle said after a few moments, her eyes clouded.

Duo sighed, glaring at Sharon. "Now look what you did."

Ignoring Duo, Sharon sprung to her feet. "Hey Jae, don't let it ruin your good mood!"

"Sharii's right," Gina put in, flashing her best grin. "It's good to remember, but not good to let it damper your spirits."

"You're also right," Jaenelle nodded, giving her best smile.

After a few moments, Duo finally said out of nowhere, "Tell me about this Wang guy."

Everyone kind of stopped a little to look at Duo.

Shrugging, Jaenelle plopped down on the grass. "Well, alright. Why not? I guess it can't hurt. And… talking helps you get over something, right?"

"Right," Duo nodded. "So?"

"I met Wang two years ago at the airport," Jaenelle explained, feeling a little embarrassed to be talking about this. "He was helping out with our group that summer. He was a bit older than me and definitely out of college and settled with a job, but… I fell in love with him. I really did. He was me and Sharii's first Yang-style Tai Chi instructor."

"That asshole kicked us into position," Sharon put in, muttering. "He's not as much of a hard-ass as Wufei is, but he did."

Smiling at the memory, Jaenelle continued, "I tried very hard to get to know him that summer and to deal with my feelings. I ended up even having a letter sent to him, explaining that I was in love with him. I expected him to reject it.

"To my surprise, we somehow ended up closer friends," she laughed, almost bitterly. "He ended up paying more attention to me and we kept getting closer. I told him to not forget me when I left that summer and I promised I'd be back. We remained very close but I discovered something. He had a girlfriend, a Chinese girl."

"Whoa, whoa," Duo cut her off, waving his hands in the air. "He's taken and yet you _still_ were going to try to be with him?"

"I didn't know what else to do," Jaenelle exclaimed suddenly. "You must understand; he mentioned her off-hand, only once, for the entire two years we kept in rather good contact. I figured… maybe I still had a chance…"

Duo shook his head, laughing. "Oh man! In a way," he mused, rubbing his chin with his fingers. "What you did was mean."

Jaenelle blinked. She definitely hadn't expected _that._ "How so?"

"Okay, think about it," Duo said with a chuckle. "You were like… like cheesecake to a fat man on a diet."

"Cheesecake?" Jaenelle echoed.

"That Aitkin's diet is bullshit anyway," Sharon laughed.

"Think about it," Duo insisted. "The diet is like his girlfriend. He may not like the diet much, it may be the same thing over and over again. But, that's his diet. Then all of a sudden comes the cheesecake, which is you. The younger, obviously foreign girl. It's like calling up the fat man and being like, 'Oh! Hey man, you _gotta_ try this cheesecake. It's so delicious and it even looks gorgeous, you really gotta come down here and try some- oh wait, you're on a_diet._ Well here, let me offer you a piece of it anyway, just to try. C'mon, why not take a bite?"

Jaenelle was silent, worry etched on her face.

"Hey, hey, don't worry about it!" Duo grinned. "You're plenty cute. Hell, if I weren't you're teacher I'd ask you out on a date!"

"Really?" Jaenelle perked, surprised.

"Yeah! But I gotta admit, I think Sharii's more my type," he winked. "Or maybe Steph, she's got her feisty side too." Steph sputtered at that comment, a clear red blush coming to her cheeks as Duo stretched, laughing. "Hey, all you guys are pretty cute. But yeah, Jae, don't worry about him as much as it sucks to hear. He doesn't sound like much of a winner. Kinda sounds like he led you on."

Jaenelle nodded, once again silent.

Duo shrugged and gave his best grin. "But it's true! You're way cute and if you were to graduate tomorrow I'd ask you out on a- AAAAAAAAGGGHHH."

The other girls screamed, jerking away as ice soda was suddenly pouring all over Duo and splashing everywhere. Duo scrambled a few feet away, flicking liquid off his face and turning to the person who did it. "_HEY._ Heero, what the fuck?!"

All of the girls stared up at Heero in shock.

Heero stood rigid, holding the tray that had a few cups of soda still standing. "Oops," he shrugged in a monotone.

"_What the hell do you mean, 'oops'?!"_ Duo demanded, shooting to his feet and glaring at Heero, anger burning on his face. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was intentional!"

"Maybe it was."

"What?"

Heero turned and was gone as quickly as he'd come.

"What the hell is up with him?" Duo scoffed, putting both hands on his hips. "Whatever. That was fucked up. Sorry guys, I'll get cleaned up and be back. Punch the shit out of Heero for me, will ya?" With that Duo headed off, leaving behind a rather confused gathering of Plan B.

A few minutes passed.

"What the hell just happened?" Megh asked out loud, breaking the silence.

"Heero just… dumped a bunch of pop all over Duo," Steph stated, looking very shocked.

"Dang… Um, I really think he did it on purpose," Gina voiced.

"Duo must've pissed off Heero earlier," Megh suggested.

"It's not uncommon," Jaenelle nodded, a blush coming to her cheeks.

Deciding it was probably something between Heero and Duo, the girls resumed their normal chatter, the action pretty much forgotten for the evening as the barbeque continued.

----

Monday reared its ugly head, signaling the beginning of exams. Instead of having homeroom, all of the cadets were sitting in the assembly hall to be read off their schedules for the week. This was the worst part of their exams. None of them knew when they were going to have which exam, so if they weren't each all prepared for perfectly then one could fail and it was a lot of information to take in at once.

Instead of Quatre at the podium it was Heero who had a stern look on his face. None of the other members of Preventer Five were in attendance, which was strange. Usually that look told the students to basically "sit down and shut up" and indeed that is what they did.

"There is a severe problem here," Heero said darkly, surveying the room. His blue eyes were blazing with anger. "This morning while running a weapons' check we discovered that _all_ of the guns' ammunition has been tampered with. The rubber bullets are gone and have been replaced with actual bullets.

"_I want to know who did this,"_ Heero snapped, the expression in his set close to crazy with anger. "Each and every single one of you _knows_ that we have field exams today which would involve you in combat. Whoever had the intention of the students _killing each other_ is going to be _found_ and we _are_ going to get to the bottom of this. And when we find out who you are, you will deal with not only Preventer Five, but you will deal with _me_.

"There will be room checks," he continued, practically snarling. "_All_ of your things will be checked. Every page in every book will be looked at and read. Yes, I mean _every._ Not a single notebook you possess will not be read. I don't care _what_ is written in there. You don't like it, too damn bad."

Most of the students were practically huddled at this point. It was extremely rare to see Heero this angry, and considering the circumstances he had every right to be. Almost as frightening was the concept that had they actually gone on that field and begun the exam combat they honestly _would_ have shot each other.

"You will all be escorted outside," Heero said as the doors opened. "And you will all _stay_ there until all questioning and all searching is complete."

----

The August sun might've been less harsh than June or July's, but it was still hot. The fear had melted away and turned into agitation. People started proclaiming their innocence and complaining left and right. But nothing changed their situation. Worse, everyone was hungry and the only thing they were getting was bottled water.

"You know, we could build a mountain with these bottles," Sharon muttered, tossing one in the growing pile.

"You'd think they'd run out too," Megh sighed then perked when she saw Gina cross the field from the doors. "It's Gina!"

"How did the questioning go?" Jaenelle asked.

"Same as yours, really," Gina shrugged. "They re-took my fingerprints, examined my shoes and their prints, checked out my entire schedule, tried to clear any alibis I had with one of the other Preventers and then they let me go. It helps that Duo was pretty serious when he decided he wanted to be actual friends with us. He was always chilling with us in the lobby when we played video games, so we checked out."

"You're the last one," Sharon groaned. "So does that mean we can _go the fuck INSIDE_ _now?!"_

As if someone answered her prayers, the doors opened and soon a very grim looking Lady Une, Noin, Zechs, and Sally Po were headed outside followed by the five ex-pilots. All conversation died at that point. The nine Preventers looked at each other before sighing almost in unison.

Quatre decided to take the initiative. "Well, everyone," he said, sounding a little hesitant. "I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that, surprisingly, all of you check out. Your alibis clear and you're all free to go."

"The bad news," Lady Une spoke up then, "is that you are all being sent home."

Shock appeared on every single cadet's face. Voices of protest suddenly filled the field. Lady Une snapped up her hand, silencing everyone. "We are completely stumped. We have no idea who did this, or where to trace the activity to. This is the second big scare we've had in less than six months. Because of this, we are left with no choice. We cannot risk this happening again."

"This isn't permanent," Quatre quickly amended, sadness evident on his face. "I- We don't know how long this is going to take, but it's not permanent. It may take a couple of weeks, it may take a couple of months, we really don't know. But you're all being sent home."

"When we're ready, the school will re-open," Noin said with a slight nod.

"Should you wish to come back, you will be tested severely," Une added. "We will be screening _everyone_, no matter how long of a history you have with the organization."

"At least you guys don't have to take exams now?" Duo offered with a forced smile.

No one looked relieved about it.

"I tried," Duo shrugged.

"You're free to go," Heero said, disappointment evident in his voice. "As of now, you are all no longer cadets of the Preventer Organization."

"Keep your eyes on the mail or your e-mail's inbox," Trowa nodded. "Information will be sent there when we're ready. That's all we can say. You guys have twenty-four hours to pack."

In spite of the fact that there were perfectly clear skies, it seemed suddenly a whole lot darker outside. As the nine Preventers went back inside the building, all of the students began to talk amongst themselves, rising and heading back towards their dorms and discussing calling their parents, relatives, friends, or significant others to come and pick them up. Unfortunately this left five particular young ladies asking each other one very important question.

Where in all hell were _they_ going to go?


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **For the record, the story about Wang and Jaenelle is _true._ (Actually, everything mentioned in the backstories of the girls is true from the color of Sharon's hair to the random stories from China in 2005.) Highly shortened and nutshelled, but true and it did happen. I think I'd die if he stumbled across this, but… I don't really see him anymore since he married someone else (yes, I know, I was shocked). That in itself is another story, although sad.

Also to note, I've had a lot of these chapters written previously but haven't updated them when I finish them. My good friend and fellow author **Chaotic Fantasy** suggested that I space them out, since I tend to sometimes write anywhere from 1-4 chapters in a single day when I get on a kick. However, you all now are officially caught up in what I've written altogether. I hope to have Chapter 11 finished today sometime. Anyway, on with the fic!

**Chapter 10**

Noin sat at the head of the table, pressing two fingers to her forehead. The briefing was about to begin. They were only really waiting on Heero and Zechs.

What a situation they were in. Wufei and Duo had been in charge of running the scans on the bullets that had been lodged in both President Jenson as well as the skull of the now long-dead Maslin. They hadn't come up with _any_ leads for the sheer fact that they had uncovered no fingerprints or footprints of anyone who hadn't been any of the nine in the weapons bunker. The bullets used turned out to be from their own supplies. Which lead them to wonder just how the student had managed the tasks they performed today.

Noin couldn't help but think that it was their fault this happened. Since they had quite literally gathered that there was no evidence that anyone was associated with the actions of Maslin, they had come to the conclusion that this was a spontaneous act, perhaps bordering insanity.

The door opened and out of the corner of her eye Noin saw Heero and Zechs enter. The briefing could now begin.

"Let's look at the facts," she spoke as Heero and Zechs sat down and gave her their undivided attention. "There is no evidence pointing in the direction of any of the students, so we can't single out anyone, especially not after our questioning and analysis. Whoever did this is very clever, especially to get around the security system you five created."

"Yeah, I won't lie, that creeps me out a bit," Duo snorted, setting down the bottle of water he'd been sipping out of. "The only person I know who could be _that_ stealthy is either me or Heero."

Heero raised an eyebrow. "Is that an accusation?"

"No way!" Duo waved his hands wildly, laughing a bit nervously. "C'mon, Heero! I know you would never do this, especially since you were willing to rip a few new assholes to whoever _did_ do it."

"Accusing one of us is out of the question!" Quatre suddenly snapped, his eyes looking tired and angry. "None of us are guilty here, so drop that thought right now. The last thing we need is to distrust each other. Distrust leads to lack of communication, lack of communication leads to misunderstandings, misunderstandings lead to conflict."

Wufei nodded in agreement once. "We are all veterans of the same war. We wouldn't damage what we worked so hard to build. Let's concentrate on fixing our errors, since they obviously exist otherwise we wouldn't _be_ in this position."

Quatre smiled at Wufei. It felt good to hear him talk like that. Though often times the warrior-scholar kept to himself, it was nice to feel reassured that Wufei _did_ have faith in them as a group. There were times even now when he tried too hard to be a loner. It was good that now he was willing to stand with them.

"Basically, we need to look for leads," Noin nodded. "Unfortunately, you're due to go back to Mars soon, aren't you?" she asked Zechs.

Zechs sighed, clasping his hands together. "It can be put off a week or two for this."

"We'll be fine," Heero put in. "You have a mission of importance at Mars. We can't cancel everything because of one incident."

"I agree with Heero," Trowa nodded. "Go ahead, Zechs. We'll take care of everything here."

"We should shut down the school and re-write the security program," Une finally spoke. "Re-trace everything a hundred times if we must. Duo, Wufei, I'm assigning you both to seek out leads. You can go out and look or use the databases we provide you. Both are okay. Heero, Trowa, and Quatre, I need you both here to re-write and test the system. Myself and Noin will handle the publicity that comes with the shutting down of the school."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Looking satisfied, Une relaxed a little. "That's settled then." Before she could speak any further, there was a light knock on the door. Everyone looked at each other before Wufei got up and answered the door. He blinked as he looked down at the wide eyes of the much shorter Regina Stewart.

"We're in the middle of a very important meeting," Wufei began with a frown.

"I know, and forgive me, _laoshi,"_ Gina replied, looking a bit uncomfortable. "But… me, Sharii-chan, Jae, Steph, and Megh don't have homes. We don't know where to go."

Wufei's expression softened only a little. "This is a problem," he nodded, still not looking pleased.

"Um…" Gina really didn't know what to say.

"We'll think of something, Regina," Quatre put in, rising from his chair and coming directly to her, smiling gently. "Don't worry. We wouldn't do that to you. Just wait in your rooms and when we're ready we'll come and discuss options. Okay?"

"Okay," Gina nodded, relief clear on her face. She trusted Quatre.

As the door shut behind her, Wufei gave a heavy sigh. "What _are_ we going to do with them?"

"You could always put Sharii up with you in your place," Duo grinned.

"_No."_

Quatre pondered. "I could take all five of them up to L4. They'd like it, I think. They could go into space and it's always such a magical first experience!"

"Leave it to Quatre to make it sound all goody-goody," Duo remarked with a cheesy snort then shook his head. "All five girls are too much for you, man. And we _do _have things to do. Playing baby-sitter for one or two of them is okay, but not all of them."

"I'll take Jaenelle," Wufei offered suddenly. Heero turned his head a little to look at him from the corner of his eye. "She has a deep interest in Chinese philosophy, especially the philosopher Zhuangzi. I wouldn't mind having a student in that particular field, considering she was to go to graduate school in Shanghai anyway for that subject."

Everyone nodded in agreement except Heero. Duo raised an eyebrow. Was it him or was Heero shooting Wufei a death glare? Duo could feel the chill from Heero from across the table.

"Sharon wants to also study Chinese seriously," Trowa pointed out.

It was Wufei's turn to shoot a death glare.

"It is," Trowa didn't back down. "It's not fair to take Jaenelle and not Sharon when they study the same discipline. Remember that Sharon did not _mean_ to cut off your ponytail, Wufei."

Wufei muttered in Mandarin. No one bothered to translate.

"_Fine,"_Wufei scowled. "Jaenelle _and _Sharon. But know that if because the two of them are _together_ they act crazy and hyper, I am dropping the both of them down the largest waterfall I can find."

_CRUNCH_.

Everyone was now staring incredulously at Heero, whose own water bottle was now practically snapped in half with his grip. Water dripped down the sides of his hands.

"Uh… Heero?" Duo laughed nervously.

"Sorry," Heero replied tonelessly. "Continue. I was day-dreaming."

_About snapping Wufei's neck for something? _Duo thought to himself, making a mental note to pay more attention to Heero's actions from now on.

"Anyway," Duo cleared his throat, diverting attention from Heero's sudden destruction of the water bottle. "I'll take the other three."

Quatre looked disappointed. "I was so sure they'd like outer space," he sighed.

"I'll go tell them," Heero said suddenly, getting up and heading out the door without another word.

Silence passed between them for a few moments.

"Is it me, or is Heero acting funny?" Duo blurted out.

"He's acting funny," Trowa confirmed.

"Male PMS?" Duo offered.

"Don't make such a _ridiculous_ suggestion, Maxwell," Wufei snapped, annoyed.

"My bad, I forgot you're the only sufferer," Duo retorted calmly, causing Quatre to chuckle and Trowa to cough a little.

"Are we done acting like children?" Une asked, sighing heavily. "We have a job to do, now that the issue with our 'foreign' guests is taken care of. Shall we move on?"

"Yes, ma'am," Duo straightened, smirking at Wufei's low mutter.

----

Glancing in Sharon and Gina's room, Heero noticed that neither of the girls were there and the door had remained open. He stepped in, glancing around and not leaving from just a step away from the doorway. He hadn't been the one doing the room checks earlier (that had been Duo), so this was his first time looking in some of the students' rooms.

It was fairly obvious which side of the room was Sharon's. There were Christmas lights on her side of the wall accompanied with bright, colorful posters. Likely she'd collected them during the weekend when they were allowed off campus. The bedding and pillows were equally colorful; in fact, one of the pillows had a sticker that read, "press me." When Heero did so, it flashed _very_ brightly in all the colors of the rainbow. Yes, that was definitely Sharon's side of the room.

Gina's side of the room was a stark contrast to Sharon's. The colors were neutral in brightness; mainly reds, blues, and some oranges. On her rather simple bedding sat a slightly worn looking plushie of a husky dog. He'd seen that plushie's head sticking out of Gina's bag when she and the others first came to the Preventer Headquarters. She must treasure it, Heero thought. There were obvious signs of love for the thing.

In his childhood, the only thing Heero had ever owned was a gun. He'd never had anything like stuffed animals. No one had ever given him one.

Leaving Sharon and Gina's room, the room next to theirs was a single room belonging to Jaenelle. Her door was also open. Heero frowned; didn't she know there were thieves who would enter her room and steal her things? She ought to be more careful, he thought as he stepped inside, telling himself that he wouldn't stay long. As if that was justifying entering her room to look around instead of stepping inside and looking from the doorway… it didn't.

Jaenelle's room was not unlike Sharon and Gina's but it was different in and of itself. She favored pastels of lighter, brighter colors and her room had a blend of Victorian and Asian influence, mostly Asian. His eyes first found the bookshelf and he wandered over, eager to see what kinds of books she had.

Wufei had been right; she had a deep interest in Chinese philosophy. Jaenelle owned a few books on Asian philosophy. A few of them she had obviously originally purchased for class as they still had their_Used: University Book store_ stickers on the side. He searched their titles, _Classical Ethics, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, An Anthology of Chinese Literature, _a couple of fiction titles including a book-set that had a title in both English and Chinese. Two more of the non-fiction books had been on Japanese cooking and meditations in Shintoism.

He approached her desk and his eyes caught the character for love, 愛, written down in elegant calligraphy. Thanks to knowing Japanese, he could read the Chinese characters enough to understand that it had been for her birthday and it had been signed by two different people. Whoever gave this to her, Heero couldn't help but realize, had loved her very much. Not in a romantic way, but… like family. Suddenly he found himself wanting to meet the person who had written the calligraphy. They had obviously impacted her life.

Glancing down, there was a book on her cluttered desk that stuck out. Not really thinking about the consequences, Heero picked up the book. "Living Philosophy," he murmured the title out loud. "By Stephen Rowe."

"He was my senior capstone class professor," a voice spoke suddenly from behind him.

Whipping around instinctually, Heero's gun was up and out of where he had kept it and he pointed it directly at the startled face of Jaenelle, who instantly threw up her hands, frightened. "Don't shoot!" she squeaked

"Oh," Heero replied dumbly, lowering the gun. "I'm sorry, you scared me."

"_You_ scared _me,"_ Jaenelle laughed nervously, lowering her left hand and placing the right over her heart. "I thought you were going to shoot me."

"I'd never hurt you." The words burst out of him before he could think. A slight blush rose to his cheeks.

To his surprise, Jaenelle was blushing also. "Not on purpose anyway, since you kind of already shot me."

Dread filled him. He _had_ hurt her.

Moving past him, Jaenelle picked up the piece of calligraphy, looking as if she were fighting the blush on her own cheeks. "This was from Peimin Ni," she explained, a sad smile forming on her face. "And his daughter, Sophie. Ni was like my real father. So was Shang. I called Ni, 'Papa Ni' while Shang was, 'Dad Shang'."

"You loved them very much," Heero observed gently.

"I did," she nodded. "I still do. They were like my real family. Sophie called me her older sister, and to me, she was my little sister. I love them all very much." Setting down the calligraphy, she then picked up a picture and handed it to Heero. "This is Papa with the rest of us from the Chinese new year festival."

Heero took the picture and looked down at it. Jaenelle was smiling widely, her hair much shorter than it was now. Her Papa's arm was on her shoulder as he smiled for the camera. The other four girls stood to Ni's other side, arms around each other as they smiled. Sharon didn't have her colorful braids in, but she was still ridiculously colorful. It was very obvious from the picture that Ni had loved Jaenelle like a daughter, even if she hadn't been of his blood. The five girls also were obviously close.

"You look happy in this picture." _Happier than I've ever seen,_ he found himself thinking suddenly.

"I was."

"Are you not happy now?"

Jaenelle looked surprised. He himself was surprised that he'd even asked her that.

"I'm still mourning the loss of China," Jaenelle managed. "But, I think I'll be alright." She shrugged and gave her best smile, still blushing.

Nodding, Heero set down the picture and looked down at the book from earlier. "What is it about?"

"Philosophy," Jaenelle teased.

"Naturally," Heero replied a little dryly.

"Do you want to borrow it?" Jaenelle surprised herself in asking.

Picking back up the book, Heero looked long and hard at the title before flipping it around to look at the back cover and reading the praises for it. "Alright," he blinked. "Do you need it back by a certain date?"

"Not at all. Take your time."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Instructor Yuy."

Heero hesitated. Looking down at the ground, he decided he hated the rising heat in his cheeks. "You're not enrolled right now," he pointed out, pausing for a moment before deciding to say it anyway. "Call me Heero."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded, still looking at the ground. Why did his face feel _so _hot?

"Alright then, Heero."

His chest hurt from the thumping. Glancing up, he noticed that Jaenelle's eyes were also downcast and there was a blush to her cheeks also.

Thinking that this was getting awkward, Heero lifted his head and looked around the room, looking for something, anything to ask about. Finally he saw a small doll-like plushie sitting on her bed. Clearly male, he had blue eyes, brown hair, a blue jacket with a green shirt, what looked like jeans and brown shoes…

Wait a minute.

Heero's eyes narrowed a bit. That doll looked _awfully_ familiar. Creepily familiar, in fact. Still frowning, Heero approached the bed and said in reference to the doll, "So what's this?"

Faster than he'd ever anticipated she'd move, Jaenelle dove on the bed. Heero's eyes moved with her hands as he saw her tuck the doll under her pillow. "What's what?" she laughed nervously.

"Jaenelle," Heero said sternly, his voice lacking a bit of the warmth from earlier. "What are you hiding?"

"I'm not hiding any-"

"JAE!" Sharon suddenly burst into the room, grinning from ear to ear. "We get to hang out with CHANG-LAOSHI _all_- oh, hey Instructor Yuy. Sorry I'm being a loud-ass."

"It's fine," Heero replied shortly.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Sharon asked after a moment's consideration.

Before Heero could reply, "Yes," Jaenelle burst out with, "No, no! I was just loaning Instructor Yuy that book by Professor Rowe!"

"_That_ thing?" Sharon rolled her eyes. "Lordy, it's a _good _book, that's for sure. But it's sure as hell wordy, just like his lectures."

"Aren't philosophers supposed to be wordy?" Jaenelle pointed out.

"True. But yeah, pack your things. _Laoshi_ says we're leaving soon."

"If you'll excuse me?" Jaenelle asked Heero politely as Sharon disappeared.

_You win this round,_ Heero thought to himself as he nodded. "Thank you for the book," he said, holding it up.

"It's no problem."

"We'll discuss the doll later when we meet again."

"Oh snap."

Unable to help the small smile that came to his lips, he nodded once in Jaenelle's direction before exiting her room and shutting the door behind him, his heart pounding loudly in his chest. Feelings he couldn't name swirled inside of him, but the one feeling that remained known to him was the slight anxiety when he'd looked at that doll. It had looked like _him._ Perhaps it was just coincidence, but he hadn't been able to get a good look when she dove to hide it and Sharon, damn her, had thwarted _that_.

Oh well. There would be plenty of time to drill her later. After all, once the school re-opened the girls would have no other place to go but back to the school. He'd deal with Jaenelle then. And maybe then he would understand just why his chest was starting with all that pounding.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**A/N: **I'm… really surprised that this has happened. So many people (okay, ten isn't THAT many) have enjoyed this fic enough to want me to continue, and these people aren't my friends. Well and so, I shall continue after what, a year's hiatus? 11 months to be exact.

Thanks to everyone who watched this story, who actually enjoyed it enough to bug me from time to time to upload it and to not stop, even those who realized it hadn't been updated in nearly a year.

I can't promise a lot of frequent updates because I live in China as a graduate student on scholarship and have to pass the HSK test (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi), so I will be updating when I can and when inspiration strikes.

And to the haters… find something else to do. This is for my friends, _not_ for you.

**Chapter 11**

With a barely concealed yawn, Duo clicked on the mouse on his laptop a few more times, almost for good measure. Good god, he'd watched the videos taken from surveillance for _hours_ now; at least more than a day's worth of video. This was even worse than the mountain of paperwork he'd had the month before.

His eyes were shifting out of focus. Goddamn, if there was something strange in the videos he would've _noticed_ by now! And he wasn't the first to have gone over the files either. His first reaction was to be angry with Une for assigning him and Wufei to look for leads, but that was irrational so he quickly stopped that pattern of thought.

Smacking himself on the cheeks lightly to try and wake him up slightly, Duo shook his head and tried to focus again. The video was now showing Quatre walking into the room to do a final weapons check and cleaning, checking his watch rapidly, obviously in a hurry for the President's arrival. Duo's eyes shifted out of focus yet again.

"Agh, I just need some fucking _sleep!"_ Duo yawned, his eyes not quite shut as he yawned, the image on the screen blurring enough to make the picture fuzzy. As he tried to keep his eyes focused, that was when he noticed something off.

The rushed Quatre on screen was walking away quickly with two guns in each hand presumably for Heero and his lesson, just as one of the cleaning staff came into the room and bumped into him. The two guns fell and clanked to the floor. The woman apologized profusely and quickly handed him two other guns, urging him off for the sake of time. As Quatre left the room, the woman turned to glance up at the camera before kneeling down over the two guns and moving to the spare spot, taking a bit too long to put them in the right order.

Duo peered closer, slowing down the video a little.

Her hands clumsy and awkward, the woman started to finally get up after taking a bit too much time only for the gun to shift from its spot, something white written on the sides. Duo froze the shot and zoomed in on the guns. Each of the guns were numbered, so he quickly wrote down the number then shot out of his chair and flung himself out of the room, breaking into a run as he headed towards the weapons room. His heart pounded in his chest as if to warn him that something big was coming, he was about to discover something great.

Flinging open the door, Duo headed directly to the spot, looking down at the numbers. Finding the gun he was looking for, he turned it around quickly and stared at the side. Whoever had etched into the side had since colored it over with permanent black ink. No matter; it didn't get rid of the ridges in the frame.

Thinking about how much of a genius he is, Duo got up and headed over to the counter to grab a large piece of chalk kept there from when it was necessary to keep tally. Kneeling down, Duo began to color over the spot, the bits of white chalk dust getting stuck in the ridges. When he finished, he sat back and read out loud, "Solet ed Noype. What the hell? Either way, it's a lead."

Grinning to himself, Duo tossed the chalk up and down lazily. "You da' man, Maxwell," he nodded at no one before setting down the chalk and heading off to find someone to summon the rest of the group that was left there to gather and look at what he found.

* * *

"I know, I know, I'm amazing, aren't I?" Duo said with a grin from ear to ear. He was absolutely _beaming_.

Trowa coughed. Duo decided not to interpret it.

"Unfortunately," Une sighed as she turned to Duo with her arms crossed. "We're still at step one."

Duo's jaw dropped. "Say _what?_ It took me over twenty-four hours to even _notice_ that thing!"

"To make matters worse," Une added, "The particular woman, claiming she no longer felt safe with us, has resigned and re-located to L5 just after the incident that was caught on tape. She's of Chinese ethnic background."

"It's still something," Quatre insisted. "We can try to research 'Solet ed Noype' since 'Solet ed' failed before. Let's give it a try!"

"I agree with Quatre," Trowa nodded. "In the meantime, we should inspect this inscription. Figure out how it was carved, maybe get some finger prints and trace the ink back to the very marker that had tried to cover it up. We'll also sent word to Wufei that he needs to go find this woman and interrogate her, possibly bring her back to headquarters if necessary. Sally Po will be deployed to L5 to join him."

"See?" Duo mockingly brushed non-existent dirt off his shoulder. "Amazing, aren't I?"

"Not as amazing as your ego, I'm afraid," Une retorted.

Trowa's cough definitely held a laugh that time around. Duo snorted and muttered, "I'm still awesome, even if you guys can't appreciate my genius."

"Oh, it's not that we don't appreciate it," Quatre began, then decided it was better to just let the sentence trail off from there.

"Alright," Une put a hand lightly on Duo's shoulder. "You're been working for over 24 hours. Go get some sleep. In the meantime, Quatre, Trowa, and Heero will keep working on re-writing the security system. We have a lot of work to do."

* * *

Sharon's mouth dropped as she looked around the colony they had just landed on. "Oh my fucking _god,"_ she practically drooled.

This particular sector of Colony L5 was like one massive Shanghai or even Taipei since it seemed to only have Traditional Chinese characters instead of Simplified. People were rushing about everywhere and it was definitely crowded. The skyscrapers were almost littered with flashing lights of all different shapes, sizes, sayings, and of course, colors. The scent of freshly cooked street vendor food filled the air, causing Sharon and Jaenelle to both be delighted. Jaenelle clapped her hands, squeezing with delight as Sharon turned around in circles, ecstatic.

"I could so live here," Sharon said after a few minutes.

"Me too," Jaenelle seconded.

"You could be reassigned here after a few years if you like," Wufei spoke up from behind them both. "We're working on moving a small part of headquarters here. Should you wish to continue your training, this is definitely a place to consider."

To Wufei's surprise, both Jaenelle _and _Sharon had been pleasant on the flight. Wufei discovered quickly that as long as Sharon had her quite primitive mp3 player, she was more than content to listen to her music. In fact, she gave off a kind of aura that if you bothered her while she was listening to her music you could very well be killed, so it made for a very enjoyable flight.

Jaenelle had done the same, only asking him a few questions here and there about the history of China ever since her time period. Wufei had told her all he could in response to her questions. When he had taken out his laptop she'd promptly left him alone after that.

_I guess they're not _that_ bad,_ he started to think before he realized Sharon was definitely gone.

"Where's Sharon?" Wufei turned to Jaenelle, only to realize that he was instead talking to a very confused Chinese boy. "_Shenme?"_ the boy asked, confused by his English.

_Damn,_ Wufei cursed himself for even remotely _thinking_ that they weren't that bad! The moment he ever got soft with a person is when things always go wrong. He cursed himself a few more times before muttering out loud, "It can't be _that _hard to find a black girl with purple hair amongst a sea of Asians…"

His eyes caught the crowd first before he realized _what_ they were crowding around. A group of at least fifteen Chinese were surrounding Sharon, all of them asking her questions. A few of them were touching her hair like it was the most amazing godsend to have ever graced the colony.

"_Ni de toufa hen piaoliang,"_ Wufei heard a woman say as he approached them, trying not to be aggravated.

"_Xie xie,"_ Sharon thanked her with a laugh.

Jaenelle was standing off to the side, grinning. Deciding that was better that breaking through a crowd of gawking fellow countrymen, Wufei approached Jaenelle and snapped, "What were you _thinking, _walking away from me like that!"

"I'm sorry," Jaenelle quickly apologized, looking slightly distressed at the tone in his voice. "We saw something and thought you were with us."

"My apologies for _not_ having abnormal, acute cases of ADD," Wufei snorted, turning his eyes to the very overwhelmed looking Sharon. "Is this normal?" he asked after a moment of watching.

"In China and Taiwan, yeah it was," Jaenelle shrugged. "People honestly thought it was her real hair."

Wufei burst out a single laugh with that one. "How stupid! Since when could humans genetically grow purple hair?"

"Apparently black girls can," Jaenelle grinned.

Finally free of the gawking crowd, Sharon put on her best smile. "Well! Before I start charging 5 kuai a pet, can we go?"

"Most definitely," Wufei nodded sternly and then gave them both a specific look. "And if you wander off that like that again, your hair goes the same way mine did."

Jaenelle sputtered an apology as Sharon put her hands on her hips. "You wouldn't dare- wait, yes you would. Point taken. Let's just get out of here and maybe find some food?"

Wufei nodded. Even he would agree to food at the moment.

Together, the three of them began to wander through the streets with Wufei occasionally stopping to ask a few questions from random people in fast Mandarin. Eventually they ended up looking at a sign that read, "_Xiao Chi Cheng."_

"Little Snack City," Jaenelle translated.

"Ohhhh, I hope they have bubble tea! 'Course, in my dreams they'd have _han bao jia dan-"_

"Of course they do," Wufei blinked. "But it is a breakfast food, not a dinner food. C'mon. You said you eat Chinese food, so we'll eat _real_ Chinese food, not that crap you Western fools pass by."

"As long as it's not hot pot," Jaenelle nodded.

A little while later, they will well-fed and sitting next door to their initial restaurant at a small tea shop. Wufei had ordered and prepared the tea for them, allowing either Jaenelle or Sharon to pour it depending on whose turn it was.

"I'm glad to see you enjoy tea, Jaenelle," Wufei commented.

"Oh?" Jaenelle asked.

"Yes." He set down his cup and looked at her seriously. "Tea is very healthy, and you didn't eat a lot of vegetables at dinner, so I suggest in order for you to not get an inconvenient sickness that you drink a lot of tea, or suck it up and each more vegetables."

"Dang, he just told _you,"_ Sharon laughed.

"It will also help you to lose weight," Wufei put in.

Jaenelle choked. Sharon thumped on her back. "In America, I'm normal-sized," Jaenelle pointed out.

"Yes, and in America, _Duo_ is normal. That proves nothing. You aren't as healthy as you should be, and in a demanding place such as the Preventers you need to eat more vegetables and less meat." Wufei took a sip of his tea and set down his cup, allowing Sharon to re-fill it.

"Why is it that no matter where I go in Asia, I get told this?" Jaenelle sighed.

"Because Asians are smarter and healthier than Americans," Wufei sipped his newly refreshed tea, content with his facts. "This is quite good Oolong tea. Hm. You should have Pu'er, it helps you to lose we-"

The melody of Wufei's cell phone cut him off from finishing his sentence. "Just a moment," he said, putting down his cup and answering his phone.

"I am so sick of Asians telling me I'm fat," Jaenelle sighed.

"Hey, they tell _me_ that I'm fat, and I'm stupidly tall and skinny!" Sharon patted her friend on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you are not-"

"You're kidding," Wufei snapped, silencing the girls from their conversation. "Well. If she's on L5, I'll find her. No problem. E-mail me the necessary information. I'll get these two settled in a hotel beforehand. They don't have the skills to assist me. …no, they'll be safe in a hotel, and their Chinese isn't so terrible that they can't get around if they wanted to leave the hotel. I'll book them in a separate hotel so no one connects our two parties. Okay. Bye."

"New information?" Sharon asked.

"Incredibly new," Wufei agreed, "and incredibly important. Finish your tea. We have to get moving. I'll be booking you in a traditional hotel while I go stay elsewhere. You will remain there."

"For how long?" Jaenelle asked.

"For however long it takes for me to complete my task," Wufei snorted. "Could be a day, a week, or even a month."

"A month?" Sharon's jaw dropped.

"Probably won't take that long. Don't worry, you have access to your bank accounts here and your hotel will be paid for in advance and in silence, so try your best not to mess with anything _please_," Wufei stressed the last word.

"Look," Sharon said, folding her hands neatly in her lap with an exasperated smile on her face. "I'm aware that Jae and I are hyper. I'm also aware that we have this weird habit of getting into shit. But we are also fully capable of taking care of ourselves and we don't cause accidents. We get into shit, yeah, but we also get ourselves out. Besides, this is just another China adventure."

"We'll be fine, _laoshi,"_ Jaenelle insisted. "Besides, we know enough Chinese to get by, as you said over the phone."

Wufei sighed. Was it really a good idea, leaving these two to fend for themselves? It wasn't as if he had a choice. Neither of them were experienced enough to be on the mission anyway. "Alright. Fine. Let's go get you two a hotel."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Wiping sweat off his forehead, Trowa looked at the result of a good three day's worth of work. Neither he nor Heero had hardly slept at all while going through their system and working out the bugs that Duo and Quatre had to pretty much almost make up to even find. There had been so few that they just decided to delete the entire thing and completely re-write it.

It didn't seem logical to Trowa's mind that any of the students were involved, so what Duo found turned out to be incredibly important. If it was linked with the cleaning staff, who were far less screened than the students, then that would explain why they had been unable to figure it out before. They'd been looking in the wrong place.

What was disturbing was the fact that the cleaning staff had been around for years and there hadn't been any incidents like this previously. This was quite literally out of nowhere, and they had never been unkind to their staff. In fact, all of them had been content enough to remain; the one who had quit was the first one to ever do so. Perhaps it was a grudge that the person had buried during the war that had suddenly resurfaced for whatever the reason. Then again, Trowa frowned to himself, people always tried to make those they hardly knew to have the best intentions for their actions. It felt better to justify something like that with a forgivable reason. Instead, he told himself it was best to wait and find the woman _before_ assigning any kind of judgment or thought. For now, they had what they needed.

Still, it felt foolish that they hadn't decided to question the cleaning staff before. Hadn't he learned better than that, to not trust anyone, no matter how 'comfortable' it supposedly felt? This, sadly, was the price of peace: false senses of security brought up because the same old routine over and over felt so comfortable that over time, guard began to drop little by little.

He knew better than that. They all did.

None of this, Trowa unfortunately found himself thinking, had even been a problem until the girls had arrived. Five mysterious girls, five names on sheets of papers with centuries-extinct passport numbers, all of which that made no sense. Perhaps _they _were the ones infiltrating, perhaps _they _were the ones they should be worried about. The woman who had been caught on tape wasn't terribly educated and a Chinese; perhaps she had been talked into something, by someone who spoke her language. And what a coincidence it had been that of all people to have been shot at, it was one of _them? _

Trowa rubbed his temples, unsure if he was coming up with these crazy scenarios because he was lacking sleep or because he should actually be concerned. Either way, sleep was in order and after that he would sort out the thoughts in his head and come to the right conclusion.

* * *

He should have been sleeping. He and Trowa had poured over the rewrite of the security system for almost seventy-two straight hours. There was no reason for him to not succumb to his exhaustion. But he wasn't. He was reading that book he'd borrowed instead.

Heero had stared at the _Copyright 2002_ in the front of the book for a few minutes before he began reading. He'd researched the name of the author of the book just before actually reading. Jaenelle's professor had died centuries ago, and yet the book still listed him as a living person. Then, getting over the uneasy feelings that were inside of him, he began to read.

The book was causing him to confront himself.

But wasn't that was philosophy was about? Wufei had once told him that a philosopher, having decided to abandon foolish thinking and instead live an "examined life" of self-cultivation. Indeed, during Wufei's youth as a scholar he had to study the works of the greatest minds of human genius, and therefore he was not only well-versed in philosophy but actually followed it. Heero, on the other hand, hadn't really bothered with philosophy, not until now.

The book was asking him about finding direction in life, which was something Heero had once tried to do, but had utterly failed at miserably. Like others from the war, he had lived the life of a soldier for so long that without the war, there was very little direction for him to take. He was too smart for a university and would be insanely bored all while receiving perfect scores. Surely it would be too easy for him to get a degree, and there would be very little he could actually learn from the professors there. There were few subjects that interested him enough for him to find enjoyable enough to want to pursue, and he had never given thought to having a career before. Joining the Preventers was something that seemed like the obvious solution, and it certainly paid well enough. Not that it mattered how much he was paid. He had no one to spend the money on, save himself.

So, this book was talking about him not only finding direction in life, but going _beyond_ that. As in, actually cultivating his mind. He had never questioned his intelligence before and it wasn't that his intelligence was in question right now. He had a brain, that was clear. But did he have a _mind? _And was it really laying dormant, in spite of all its knowledge, all its capabilities? And what was all the talk of choosing and rechoosing while following the direction of life _and_ while continuously seeking out self-cultivation?

He was only on the second chapter and already questioning his own existence with the metaphorical questions that the book had to offer.

Heero's eyes instantly found a part that Jaenelle had deliberately underlined. It seemed that she had been reading the book for class and obviously enjoyed the passage. He sat back and murmured it aloud:

"_Magnificent human beings do not just happen; the mature human form does not simply unfold out of the natural process, as seems to be the case with other life forms. Mature human beings – even just interesting ones – take work. Beyond every significant human life there is some substantial discipline and practice." _Heero paused, taking this in for a moment before continuing. "_The practice is always humbling- and frustrating, 'impossible' in relation to the grandeur of the goal anticipated…"_ he trailed off, setting down the book.

Yes. It was true. Everyone had a story, and those who had achieved the things he respected and revered- as few as those people there were in his life- they hadn't just always been like that. They'd worked hard to get where they did. And they certainly hadn't given up.

Just when did he start giving up? Was it during the war? Or after? It'd been six years since the war ended, and right now he felt just as lost as he did when he realized bitterly that without the war, he had no direction and without direction, there was nothing but him and disorganized emotions that he didn't understand and worried that he never would.

No.

It wasn't the same.

He stared at the underline of the passage and smiled softly at the graceful handwriting on the side that read, _'The kind of person I wish to be.'_

No. It wasn't the same now.

Marking his place, Heero set down the book and shut his eyes as he laid down, turning off the light. He'd keep reading that book until it all made sense. Until his emotions were clear. Until he understood. Then and only then would he be able to follow that once piece of advice he'd almost died once attempting: to follow his emotions.

He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

* * *

Days passed and there was no word from Wufei on either end.

"Neither Wufei nor Sally have reported anything at all," Une said gravely when Quatre shut the door behind him. "There's been no phone calls, no e-mails, not a single status report since Wufei sent that he had located the woman Liu Yinyin and was going to engage her the following day. It's assumed that he did, but that was three days ago."

Quatre slid into his seat, concern on his face as this all registered. "Wufei is too good for a single person to have taken him out, especially not a cleaning lady," Quatre said.

"I'm inclined to agree," Heero frowned. "This was a foolish action. One of us should have been sent in as back-up. Obviously this woman was no good, and she would have been expecting a confrontation from the moment she left the Preventers. Sally is a nurse and accustomed to behind-the-scenes work, not actual back-up."

"Well, now is your time to shine, Heero," Une sighed. "I'm sending you in with Duo as backup."

Quatre noticed Trowa tense beside him.

"If I may say something," Trowa began. "I'm beginning to become suspicious of Jaenelle Kelly and Sharon Gladden, not to mention the other three."

Heero whipped his head around, staring at Trowa seemingly with a blank look on his face, but there was something deeper. Quatre studied Heero for a moment, trying to read the Perfect Soldier's emotions. Was it anger at Trowa's suggestion?

"Uh, Trowa?" Duo scratched his head. "You're not making sense-"

"Let's look at the facts," Trowa continued, cutting off Duo. "We have five girls who appeared out of nowhere. Their names, their passport numbers, all of them magically appeared on Noin's sheet and in our computers. They magically were on a plane that was assigned as an extra potential-student test, and somehow their luggage was too. Now, I don't know about the rest of you all, but someone must have hacked into our system."

"Ridiculous," Heero snapped.

"Is it?" Trowa met Heero's gaze. "I'm surprised you're the first to protest, Heero. You yourself used to be the least trusting of us all. Normally I'd be inclined to agree. I know of no one else who has the skills to do these things other than ourselves. But obviously something is happening here. Obviously we're being out-witted, and I'm starting to think it's because of these five girls, who have no place here-"

"Hold the phone," Duo said, rising. "Before any of you all go on any more accusatory rants, I need to show you all something."

"Duo," Heero practically snarled. "It had better be important."

"Oh," Duo nodded. "It is. And be prepared to shit your pants. I'll be right back."

As Duo left, Trowa commented, "I fail to see whatever it is that he has to show that would be so important."

"As do I, but I also fail to see your logic," Heero said, deciding to continue the conversation anyway. "If these girls had any skills, it would have leaked through by now in their poor performances. They're not physically in shape, they have shown the proper emotional distress when the situation called for it-"

"Maybe it's all an act," Trowa pointed out.

"What?" Heero blinked, frowning deeper. "That's illogical."

"It's about as illogical as giving credit to five people who seemed to have literally appeared out of thin air-"

"Guys!" Quatre slammed down his hands, unable to take the arguing. "Please! Both of you are making good points. I agree, Trowa, it is unfathomable about how they got here, and it's insane that this topic of how, how, how keeps coming up in conversation! We don't know, and I agree with Heero- _they_ don't know either. I've seen all of them at their breaking points, especially Jaenelle when she first got here. What if they _aren't_ to blame, but _are_ a part of it?"

"Clarify," Heero said, his eyes practically casting daggers at Quatre.

"What if this is just some cover up?" Quatre continued, trying to ignore the icy sapphire stare. "What if they're the guinea pigs, covering up something so much greater? What if they're being used as pawns in a bigger game? If that's the case, then leaving them unattended and unprotected is a bad, bad idea."

The door flung open and Duo burst into the room, carrying a graphic novel and some papers. "This is something Jaenelle showed me," Duo said, placing them all on the table. "And these are tests I made on the book itself. The book is indeed dated back to the time they claimed they're from."

Trowa took the book first, flipping through it. "Duo, this is a comic book."

"About our _lives."_

"What?" Quatre got up from his chair, walking around to stand behind Trowa's chair and read over his shoulder. His eyes locked on the images, on the drawings of himself and the others, drawings of their pasts. He read the dialogue and threw his hand to his mouth, astonished. "Name of Allah! How can this be?"

"No fucking clue," Duo shrugged before he looked at Heero. "That's how Jaenelle knew you were called the Perfect Soldier, Heero. That's why Stephanie freaked out so much when she first got here."

Une finally spoke up. "Noin also reported that Jaenelle had a similar reaction," she said, looking amused. "She called Noin an 'accurate cosplay'."

"What's a cosplay?" Quatre asked as Heero took the book, wide-eyed.

"Not sure," Trowa answered truthfully.

"So, the girls are in the clear," Duo said, sitting down. "I promised Jaenelle, Sharon, and Megh that I wouldn't tell you guys. I didn't want you guys to get creeped out. But it's necessary for you guys to know now before you decide that eliminating them is a great idea."

"Now that that's cleared," Une interrupted any further talk. "We need to get Wufei and Sally. Heero and Duo, I want you both to go to L5. First, pick up Jaenelle and Sharon and bring them to a safe point, not a random hotel. Secure them, and move on to get Wufei. Quatre, please have Rashid bring back the other girls. It seems they'd be better off staying here at headquarters than anywhere else. Oh, and Quatre?"

"Yes?" Quatre looked up.

Une slid forward a newspaper clipping. "Make sure you bring Miss Stephanie to me at once. It seems we're going to have need for her skills in the future."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Chang Wufei opened his eyes.

It took a few seconds for the gray to come into clear view. Without moving the rest of his body, he allowed his eyes to wander, taking a good look at his surroundings. The air felt damp, and from the indication of the state of the walls, it was highly likely that were he was didn't exactly keep well underground.

Underground. Yes. That was where he was.

It had taken him a full day to find Liu Yinyin. Liu was a rather popular Chinese surname and it seemed that the woman kept a low profile, only keeping to temporary professions such as being an _ayi_, a cleaning lady. He had traced her agency and had Sally go in to inquire about her services, spinning a tale that Liu Yinyin had been recommended by another and found who her current patron was. Thankfully for the fact that Sally was only part-Chinese; they had no idea that Sally could actually read Mandarin.

Or so they both had thought.

They had arrived at the service apartments, keeping their eyes peeled when two men approached them. They'd asked Wufei how much a night with his "girl" cost before suddenly assaulting them both. He cursed himself. He'd allowed himself to get distracted by the ridiculous request when the dart concealed in one of the assaulter's hands had hit his arm.

Now he was here in this cellar, his mind clear enough to remember what happened, but too fatigued to do anything about his current situation. Wriggling slightly, Wufei felt the ropes around his wrist and ankles. He was tied spread eagle. He shut his eyes, feeling the knots. A poor job for such supposedly high class kidnappers.

No matter. Wufei allowed himself to relax, heading into meditation. His body would recover in a few hours. Then when they came to check on him, they'd be in for a nasty surprise.

Duo settled in his chair and stretched dramatically. "Okay, we're all clear and totally passed the Ozone layer. Everything's cool. Just got five hours to kill!" He turned around in his chair, grinning widely, only for his face to fall when he saw that his companion was already in Ignore Duo Mode. "Hey! Heero! You can't _read_ for the next five hours!"

Heero raised a single eyebrow, but didn't remove his eyes from the page. "And why is that?" he asked in a light monotone that seemed to mock Duo.

"Because I'll be _bored."_

"That isn't my problem," Heero replied, flipping a page. "If you didn't bring anything to entertain yourself for the trip, then that is poor planning on your-"

Duo snatched the book from him and frowned. "_'Living Philosophy?'_ Where the heck did you get this from?"

"Jaenelle." Heero flicked his wrist, popping the book out of Duo's hands. Duo frowned as it landed perfectly in Heero's lap as if he hadn't been disturbed to begin with. "Oh," Duo mused. "I see. You got it from _Jaenelle._"

Heero didn't reply. He merely shifted through the book, finding his page again.

"What's Relena think?"

"Of?"

"You and Jaenelle."

Duo watched Heero's eyes harden as he looked at the page he had been reading. "There is nothing for Relena to think."

"Oh really? You never borrow any of _her_ books." Duo grinned.

"When it becomes a national emergency to notify the Vice Foreign Minister that I have borrowed a book from a student, let me know," Heero said nonchalantly, seeming to relax a little. Duo kept his gaze on Heero, wondering if he should dare say what he _really_ thought about the situation. Probably wouldn't get him anywhere. If Heero didn't want to talk about it, then Heero didn't want to talk about it. Oh, Duo could goad him of course, but being that outside those windows was nothing but outer space and they happened to be on a shuttle together, that meant there was nowhere for Duo to run. So, he'd leave Heero alone about it. For now.

"What's Une want with Steph exactly anyway that has to do with Relena?" Duo mused, leaning back in his chair. "I don't get it."

Heero didn't reply. He merely turned the page.

Duo sighed and leaned forward, boredom seeping in. This was the worst part about missions with Heero. He was just too damn _quiet_. That asshole. Five hours was a long time to spend with someone who refused to initiate conversation unless it was relative to the mission.

"I'm hungry," Duo complained.

Silence.

"I'm thirsty," Duo sighed.

Silence.

"I'm going to eat this chair."

Silence.

"I'm going to eat _your_ chair."

Silence.

Duo crossed his arms. Dammit! Wasn't there _anything_ that he could say to get this guy's attention?!

Wait. Yeah. There was. Was it going too far? Maybe. But Duo didn't care.

Smirking, Duo leaned forward and said with mischief in his eyes, "I'm Jaenelle's boyfriend."

Heero slammed the book down in his lap, his head snapped around and his eyes were cold blocks of sapphire ice. "Excuse me?" Heero asked in an all-too cold voice.

"Oh, nothing," Duo smirked, leaning back in his chair again, looking triumphant. "I just wanted your attention. Now, can we _please_ have a conversation so I don't die of boredom?"

The ice left Heero's eyes as he turned his head back around and raised the book once again, ignoring Duo.

Duo just sighed.

Jaenelle frowned as she took another look at the scroll she was holding. "_Tai gui le!"_ she complained.

The vendor also frowned and lifted her calculator, "No! Not expensive! _Bu gui! _I give you special price, you special friend!" She punched in a few numbers and raised the calculator again. "This okay?"

Jaenelle let loose an exaggerated sigh. "_Wo shi liuxuesheng! _Foreign student! _Wo meiyou qian!"_

"You have money!" the vendor insisted. "You American!"

"What is this, 2007 again?" Sharon shook her head. "I could've sworn that there weren't distinctions in economy anymore since everyone belongs to the World Nation?"

"Apparently not," Jaenelle laughed before focusing her attention back on the vendor. "5_0 kuai, hao ma?"_

"50?!" the vendor shrieked, outraged.

Jaenelle set down the scroll and shrugged. "Let's go."

As both Jaenelle and Sharon tried to leave, the vendor reached out and grabbed Jaenelle's arm. "Okay, okay, 7_0 kuai!"_

Jaenelle crossed her arms. "50!"

"65?"

"50!"

"55," the vendor begged. "Only 5 yuan more!"

"50!" Jaenelle emphasized.

"Okay, okay," the vendor ushered her back into the store, wrapping up the scroll. "_Bu cuo,"_ she complimented on Jaenelle's bargaining skills, who merely grinned.

"Glad to see that L5 isn't so different from the China we're used to," Sharon commented as the girls left the store. "Vendors trying to rip you off by saying outrageous prices since we're not Chinese, products that probably aren't real anyway..."

"I'll bet that I probably still spent too much," Jaenelle sighed. "No matter how well I seemed to bargain, all my Chinese friends would exclaim that I paid too much because I'm a foreigner."

"True, true," Sharon shrugged. "But all well, it's a sweet-ass scroll!"

Together the two of them walked in silence for a few minutes as they left the flea market. The absence of Wufei at first had caused a massive panic between the two girls, but it was clear that there was no way to contact Wufei. When they'd tried to phone him, there had been no answer. Being that Wufei hadn't supplied any other phone numbers or contacts, the girls were clueless. They'd gone to the Preventers' website to try and find some kind of way to e-mail Une or the other administrators, but the most they found was the general e-mail address for inquires about the school itself. They'd e-mailed it, but no one had called their room at all.

To take their minds off what Sharon had nicknamed 'Possible Impending Doom', they had decided to go shopping today. It was a nice change from watching TV in their hotel room and worrying to death about aforementioned Possible Impending Doom. Thankfully their room had voice mail. If they received any instructions while they were gone, surely they would get the message. It was better than waiting around all day for the phone to ring.

Back on the street, Sharon looked around at the buildings and the familiar Chinese writing. "It's getting late, I think. Almost 5 p.m. You hungry?"

"Yeah," Jaenelle nodded. "Maybe there's-"

"Hello?"

Both Jaenelle and Sharon turned around to look at the two men who approached. Sharon tensed a little immediately, unsure of who these people could possibly be. Jaenelle, on the other hand, replied with a smile, "_Ni hao!"_

The men gasped. "_Ni shuo de zhongwen bu cuo!"_ the taller of the two complimented her Chinese.

"All I said was hello," Jaenelle muttered to Sharon, who smirked.

"We couldn't help but notice how beautiful you both were," the second said in perfect English, taking both Sharon and Jaenelle aback. "So, we figured we'd take a chance and say hi."

"Are you native to L5?" Jaenelle asked.

"Born here, but I grew up in L2 during my late childhood," he smirked, extending his hand to Jaenelle. "Your name?"

"Jaenelle." She shook his hand. "And you?"

"Wang Xiaogang."

Jaenelle froze. The color seemed to drain from her face. "Damn," Sharon whispered, immediately connecting the two names. It was the same name practically as the same Wang that Jaenelle had been returning to Shanghai for, the only difference being the 'Xiao' in front of 'Gang', naming him 'Little Gang.'

"I'm..." Jaenelle forced a smile. "I'm pleased to meet you."

"Zhang Kai," the taller of the two said, offering to shake Sharon's hand. "Your hair has got to be the hottest thing on L5."

"Haha, thanks," Sharon grinned, relaxing a bit.

"Where are you ladies going?" Xiaogang asked.

"To find food," Sharon answered. "Not sure where to go, though."

"We know some awesome places," Kai grinned. "Wanna join us? We were on our way back to our hotel to grab some cash before heading out to eat."

"We're staying at the Golden Dragon," Xiaogang offered.

"What a coincidence!" Jaenelle clasped her hands together, giving Sharon a shared grin. "That's where we're staying!"

"You guys aren't from around here," Sharon asked.

"No," Kai answered. "This is the capital; we're here on business, but we're both from Earth, actually."

"Oh, really?"

Together, the four of them headed back to their hotel, Jaenelle and Sharon trying too hard not to be too excited at the handsome Chinese men that had just decided to accompany them for what they were hoping would be an eventful evening. Sharon couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy, but, she shook her head to herself, she was probably just being paranoid.

Yeah, she decided as they crossed the street. She was just being paranoid.

...wasn't she?


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Stephanie stared at herself in the mirror. The bangs were itching her forehead. She seriously hadn't had bangs since she was in middle school and being that she was now twenty-three, that was a decade ago. Frowning at her reflection, she realized that she hadn't exactly aged a whole lot, at least not in the face. She probably looked the same as she did when she was thirteen!

"I really hope this is worth it," Steph said as Lady Une entered the room, accompanied with a seamstress.

"It should be," Une offered as the seamstress took ahold of Steph's arms and began to measure her entire body. Steph tried not to look in the mirror as the woman did her job. At least the Preventer training had put her body back into some kind of shape, otherwise she probably wouldn't be too pleased with the results of this.

"She's a couple inches too big," the seamstress said, standing straight. "She needs to lose some weight."

"Or Relena needs to eat a goddamn sandwich," Steph muttered.

"I'm sorry?" Relena Darlian-Peacecraft said as she entered the room. "I need to what?"

"Nothing," Steph quickly amended. Not that what she said wasn't true. Relena was a bit too skinny for her height. Probably stressed from her job... or stalking Heero too much. _Okay, okay,_ Steph sighed. _I have a bias of Relena in my head from the anime. I need to not do that. It's not fair to her, and I didn't do it with anyone else._

"Can you step off the platform and stand next to the Vice Foreign Minister?" Une asked.

Steph did as she was told and immediately regretted looking into the mirror. The two of them were _identical_, except for the fact that Steph had actual curves and Relena's curves were practically non-existent, as well as her own eyebrows. For some reason, even though she was naturally blonde, her eyebrows had always been dark.

"We'll probably need to bleach my eyebrows," Steph decided to offer.

"Only a little," Relena smiled, turning to Steph. "If we don't have _some_ kind of physical difference, even small, then it will be hard for us to tell each other apart! The rest of the world will be fooled, I think,"

Une nodded in agreement. "You'll be briefed in the car. From there we're heading to Europe by shuttle, so I hope you bring some books, Miss Witechowsky."

"No problem," Steph replied as they all crossed the room. Feeling the silence as a dead weight, Steph decided to comment, "I really hope that Jaenelle and Sharon are okay."

"Heero and Duo will find them," Une said gently.

"You can count on Heero," Relena put in almost instantly. "If there's anyone who can find them and bring them home safe and sound, it's Heero."

"Still," Steph sighed. "I hope they don't get into _too_ much trouble ahead of time."

"What kind of trouble could they possibly get into?" Relena asked, blinking.

"You really don't want to know," Steph groaned.

Duo practically jogged back to Heero, who was imputing information onto his cell phone. "They left a couple of hours ago with some others," Duo said as he reached Heero. "They thankfully were talking about their plans, so the lady says they went to dinner and then some nightclub called G Plus Plus."

"G Plus Plus?" Heero entered the data onto his phone and waited for the map to come up.

"They probably finished dinner by now and are there," Duo nodded, looking over Heero's shoulder and watching the map pop up. He whistled. "That's pretty far from here."

"We'll catch a taxi," Heero said, putting his phone in his pocket. "They know these roads best."

"But we have our own car!"

"Do you _really_ want to navigate Chinese streets?" Heero asked, raising an eyebrow as he pushed open the main doors and headed down to the street. "Even with a GPS, Wufei said that new taxi drivers often get lost. We have no time to get lost."

"But our car is _pimp."_

"Duo. We just rented it. It's not actually our car." Heero stuck his hand in the air, waving down a cab.

"I know," Duo sighed. "But I want to drive it!"

"Fine," Heero snapped as the taxi pulled up. "You can get in the car and follow the taxi." He yanked open the door and slid into the car.

"Aw, man," Duo groaned, sliding into the car as Heero snapped the directions in crisp Mandarin. Duo blinked. "Since when do you speak Chinese?"

"I only know some basics," Heero said as the taxi driver pulled away from the curb. "Wufei taught me pronunciation of _pinyin_, romanized Chinese words."

"Trying to impress Jaenelle, right?"

Heero ignored Duo's remark.

Duo grinned. "You know how to say, 'I want to hit that with you' in Chinese?"

"'Hit that'?" Heero blinked, then shook his head. "Focus on the objective, Maxwell."

"Fine, _Yuy._" Duo crossed his arms. "You are _so_ no fun. Like, ever."

"My apologies," Heero replied in a sarcastic monotone.

"Did you just roll your eyes at me?" Duo demanded.

"_Objective_, Duo."

"Fine, fine." Duo sighed, looking out the window and staring at the flashing lights of the city, unable to make out more than a couple of the characters' meanings. "I just hope they won't be _too_ disappointed when we tell them that it's past curfew and they have to come home now."

The bass was booming. The lights were flashing. Bodies were everywhere, and the bartender just kept passing out the drinks. Sweat just kept dripping. The DJ was spinning.

Yes. This was the way a club _should_ be, Sharon thought as she and Jaenelle were dancing with probably the hottest Chinese guys on the dance floor.

What a way to end a pretty much perfect night! Zhang Kai and Wang Xiaogang seemed to be too good to be true. Zhang Kai was into martial arts such as wushu and video games, Wang Xiaogang was a Tai Chi enthusiast (Jaenelle almost fainted when he mentioned that) as well as an avid player of the piano. It was also clear that Kai was into Sharon and Xiaogang was into Jaenelle. The boys had been excellent conversationalists and the nagging feeling that Sharon had had earlier was now completely gone.

The best part about this club was that it was playing just the kind of music that Sharon herself had been addicted to her entire life. Zhang Kai had happily filled her in with the new genres that had evolved in electronica and who the new Djs were as well as let her sample his music player. It was like heaven. No, _he_ was like heaven. Could it really get any better than this?

Xiaogang tapped Kai on the shoulder. Sharon watched him say something to Kai before Kai leaned over and said loudly in her ear so she could hear over the massive music, "Xiaogang and Jaenelle are getting a drink. You wanna join them?"

"Sure," Sharon grinned.

By the time that Sharon and Kai made their way to the table, Jaenelle already had a drink and was sitting _very_ close to Xiaogang and he and her were making a toast. Jaenelle took a few sips of her drink. Xiaogang set his down before drinking, rising to greet both Sharon and Kai. "You guys get any drinks yet?"

"Not yet," Sharon said.

"What do you want?" Kai asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. Jaenelle was sipping her drink again.

"Um," Sharon mused. "I don't know. Hey, Jae, what did you-"

Jaenelle slumped to the side, unconscious. Her glass hit the ground.

"Damn!" Kai cursed. "How the fuck did it get through her system so fast?"

Sharon stared at Jaenelle before rounding on Kai. "You fucking _bitch!"_ she screamed, enraged. "I'm going to fucking _kill_ you!"

She swung her fist at Kai but, sadly, the bastard had been honest about his wushu skills. He caught Sharon's hand with ease, twisting her arm behind her back. Pain shot through her body and soon Sharon was on her knees, cursing both of the men loudly and obscenely.

"Why the _fuck_ are you doing this?" Sharon demanded, tears coming to her eyes. She wasn't sure if the tears were from the pain in her body, the betrayal, or her looking at Jaenelle's all too-still body.

"You'll see," Kai smirked. "You and your other black friend... what's her name, Gina? You've been our targets all along."

_What? _Sharon blinked. But Gina wasn't even _on _L5!

"Don't worry, we won't kill your friend," Kai continued as Xiaogang started to pick up Jaenelle, swinging her onto his shoulders. "But I wouldn't be surprised if Xiao has a little fun with her first."

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HER!" Sharon screamed, violently thrashing under his grip, only for him to press down harder, stepping on one of her ankles and grabbing her other wrist. "Jae!" Sharon screamed, watching as Xiaogang calmly began to walk away. "JAE! WAKE UP, JAE!"

Suddenly, Kai's grip loosened a little.

"Step away from the girl," a familiar voice said. "You don't wanna lose your head, man."

Sharon looked up in time to watch Heero Yuy shoot past him. Heero sent a fierce kick to the man's knee, causing him to buckle. It seemed effortless to Sharon, watching Heero take Jaenelle from him as he stumbled to one knee, cursing.

"I said, step _away_ from the girl!" Duo's voice repeated loudly from behind Sharon. Kai loosened his grip on Sharon. She wasted no time and scrambled away from him, turning to look at Duo. His gun was pressed hard against Kai's temples.

Gunfire went off. Sharon whipped back around in time to see Heero, still holding Jaenelle in his arms, dive behind a table. She watched Heero knock the table over, using it as a shield against Xiaogang's gunfire. Heero set down Jaenelle, whipping his own gun out from his back pocket as he snapped up and opened fire on Xiaogang. Xiaogang's knees seemed to just burst open as he fell down, screaming.

"Now then," Duo said, forcing Kai to his knees. "Let's have a chat, shall we? I-"

Kai's hand snapped up, wrapping around Duo's. "_Solet ed!" _he laughed.

Then he pulled the trigger.

Sharon had never seen a man die before. It almost looked like the way Heero had blown out Xiaogang's knees, but it wasn't the same. She felt something touch her face. It was warm and wet. Her hand seemed to move without real thought, real consideration as it reached to wipe off the foreign substance that was now on her face. She seemed almost surprised to see that it was blood.

Another gunshot. Sharon turned around. She didn't know why she turned around. But she did it anyway. Like a train wreck, she thought to herself. I can't seem to stop watching.

Xiaogang's body fell forward. His own gun was still in his mouth as he fell. Sharon watched Heero's gun lower. She was glad she couldn't see his face. Glad that Jaenelle was passed out and not seeing any of this.

It was then that the rest of the club finally realized what was happening in their corner.

It was then that everyone else started to scream.

Including herself.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: **I am _so _sorry for the _massive_ delay in posting chapters! Life kind of hit me in the form of final exams and in China, our final exams are during the first week of January, not the beginning of December. I'm also studying voice right now, primarily opera/classical. So if I'm not in class, I'm singing, or taking up another hobby like the _guzheng_ (a Chinese zither instrument). I'm ridiculously busy! DX

I'm going to warn you all now that chapters may come pouring out in the next five weeks (I'll try to write two chapters a week during this time – no guarantees!) since it's the holiday season in China and I have no lessons to keep up with. HOWEVER, after these five weeks I have to prepare for the HSK, a Chinese language proficiency test. Being a grad student is tough work! D:

Oh! Shameless plug! Go check out **hypaalicious's** works. Yes, she is THE Sharon from my fanfic and she's currently spinning out a whole bunch of awesome fiction herself.

**Chapter 15**

The sound of footsteps stirred him to consciousness.

He counted to ten backwards. Slowly, considering each and every rise and fall of his chest, not a single second off. When he got to five, he opened one eye slightly, just enough to judge the shadows through his eyelashes. Good. Perfect.

When he got to zero, the footsteps stopped. The door opened. He shut the one eye.

Footsteps sounded, filling the room, all around him.

"He's _still_ knocked out?"a voice snapped.

"God damn, this is all _your_ fault," another voice shot back.

"Mine?!"

"You never mix the damn solution right, if you'd actually-"

They never saw him move. At least, not in time.

Chang Wufei's legs were in the air before they could understand what was happening. The kicks to their faces were fast, furious, and perfect. The two men hit the wall and hit the floor, unconscious, just as Wufei landed on both feet firmly on the table. He surveyed the room quickly. Just two men today. He was expecting more of a fight, but this was to his advantage. He counted to fifteen, listening. No other footsteps.

"_Hao de,"_ Wufei mused to himself, leaping off the table and crouching down to take the keys out of one of the men's hands. He'd certainly done damage. Both men were bleeding. No matter. Head wounds bleed quite a bit and this would work even more to his advantage. By the time they woke up, they'd be too woozy to truly pursue him and Sally.

The first three days they kept injecting him with something to keep him from fully reaching conscious awareness, spoiling his original plans for escape. However, each time he felt his body wake he forced himself to remain calm, to keep himself in a meditative state. Eventually they gave up on giving him the doses, which worked in his favour. That shit they'd put in him would've rendered his muscles useless, unable to help himself _or _Sally.

But now he was in the clear, and it was time to move. Who knew how long he'd been there or worse, just how much suffering Sally had endured.

Wufei stepped out into the hallway, glancing down both ends quickly. He wasn't surprised no one was there. This was a small operation, not the hornet's nest. He'd only heard five voices the entire time he'd been "unconscious": four men and one woman and one of them was obviously the head honcho, so to speak. The head honcho had relied on a translator to speak, so chances were there were only three of them in the building unless not everyone in the building had come to check on him. That was possible also.

Locking the door behind him so the two men couldn't come after him later, Wufei took off down the hallway looking for Sally. It didn't take him long; wherever they were it was cheap and rundown. The walls had masking tape over the cracks and the floors were obviously unused to care. The only light came from a room at the end of the hallway next to a staircase.

Just in front of the door Wufei slowed down and peered inside. Just as he thought. The woman whose voice he heard was sitting in a chair, reading a book. Sally was blindfolded and tied to a bed like he'd been but it seemed from the bruises that she'd endured a much larger hell than his.

Cursing the situation, Wufei flung open the door.

Startled, the woman dropped her book and stared at him in shock. She opened her mouth to shout but Wufei's fist was soon impacting the side of her head. She fell to the ground, dazed and groaning.

"W-What?" Sally moaned.

"Stay still," Wufei instructed from where he was, watching Sally's body viably relax when she recognized his voice. He turned to the desk and opened the drawer, expecting to find a gun. To his surprise he found not only a gun but a pair of handcuffs. He quickly grabbed them, then turned to the woman, who was staggering to her feet. "I really don't think so," Wufei countered, darting in and snatching her hand. Ignoring her screaming, Wufei slapped the handcuffs down on one hand before dragging her to the other side of the room.

"You're... you're not going to," the woman gasped as Wufei shoved her against a metal pole, trembling.

Wufei snorted in disgust. "Hell no. Don't be so vain." Moving around the pole, the Preventer quickly handcuffed her other hand, keeping her to the pole. "There," he said, stepping back. "That's better. Now, you are going to answer my questions."

The woman's eyes lit ablaze. "I won't tell you shit!"

"Oh really?" Wufei raised an eyebrow. "And what will you do, tied up down here with your comrades locked in another room- oh yes, they're quite trapped themselves. You want to starve to death down here? Answer my questions."

The woman gave a heavy laugh. "You wouldn't _really_ leave me down here-"

"Try me," Wufei growled, raising the gun he'd found and waved it in the air.

"I won't tell you-"

Wufei cocked the gun and aimed.

"I don't know anything!" the woman burst out, hysteric. "We were hired, dammit! _Hired! _Don't kill me, I swear to god..._"_

"Who hired you?" Wufei's eyes narrowed, not lowering the gun.

"Some guy. Some guy who doesn't speak Mandarin. Seriously, he doesn't speak Mandarin. It's not that Cantonese lingo either. Sounded like Wu dialect or something. He had a translator." The woman shook her head. "I don't know why. I honestly don't know why he wanted you! I don't even know _who_ you people _are!_ They just came in and said that some assholes landed on the colony that need to be '_taken care of'. _I swear, I don't know more than that!"

"He said nothing else?"

"Other than you guys had to be kept alive until the real target was attained, that was all, I swear!"

"What 'real target'?"

"I don't know!"

Wufei stepped forward, pressing the point of the gun into her forehead. "Don't give me that crap."

"I seriously _don't know!"_ the woman screamed, tears forming in her eyes. "Don't kill me, I swear to god, I didn't know, we were just hired, they wouldn't tell us that much..."

"Names and phone numbers?"

"They used a prepaid cell number," the woman gulped, tears starting to fall. "The guy's translator called himself Li, his number's on the desk with a name card. I thinking about calling him about you being unconscious for so damn long when you burst in the door. That's it. I swear."

"I see." Wufei lowered the gun, moving around the pole.

"Are you going to let me go?" the woman asked hopefully.

_Thunk!_

The woman's head slumped forward, her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Wufei withdrew his hand. She was definitely knocked out now. Now he would get Sally and get the police here immediately to deal with these thugs. From the sound of it, they were some kind of local organisation, not the one they were looking for.

Quickly Wufei made his way over to Sally. "I'm sorry," he said as he untied her wrists. "I had to deal with this first."

"I understand," Sally replied in a rasp whisper.

"You sound like you've been screaming a lot," Wufei commented, feeling guilty.

"I have," Sally answered as she sat up once her arms were free. "Wufei..."

"What?"

"I... I need to go to the hospital. I... need a rape kit."

Wufei froze. Rage flooded his system, turned his vision red. Those _bastards_... they _dared_ went that far?! To... to do _that_ to a helpless victim? They deserved far, far worse than what they would get in prison.

"C'mon," Wufei muttered, trying his best to contain his rage as he helped Sally to her feet. "We are turning these... _freaks_ in to the police. Let's get you to the hospital while I get the number of this asshole who arranged all of this. Can you walk?"

"Yeah," Sally nodded, forcing a smile. "Thanks, Wufei."

Wufei inhaled deeply. "I'm... I'm sorry. There was nothing I could do this past week."

"I know. You did the best you could. It's not _your_ fault."

"No, it's not, but-"

The phone started to ring. Both Wufei and Sally stared at it. "Should we answer it?" Sally whispered.

"No," Wufei replied softly. "It would give away our status."

"The phone has an answering machine," Sally pointed out. "We can wait..."

As Sally and Wufei made their way to the desk, the machine beeped. Both of them froze.

* Chang Wufei, Sally Po, * a voice, obviously distorted, spoke over the silence. * You have 60 seconds. *

_Click._

"RUN!" Wufei screamed.

Flinging the door open, the two of them burst into the hallway. Thoughts flooded through Wufei's mind as they scrambled up the unkempt, damp staircase, seeking the light above. _We have no idea how many flights until we reach the surface, we don't know where we are, we have no weapons other than a gun I am not even sure has enough bullets for what we need, we have one injured member of our party, we have no idea how many flights... the light... it's coming closer... the door-_

Sally screamed when her foot hit a puddle, her footing not firm. Both feet slid out from under her.

Before Wufei could react, Sally was tumbling down the staircase. Time seemed to almost stop as her body faded into the darkness below. "SALLY!" Wufei screamed, noticing too late what had happened.

It was when he turned around that he heard the explosions from underground. The earth moved, shaking him to the side. He could barely make out Sally in the darkness below as he started down a couple stairs, intending on rescuing his partner.

"NO!" Sally's voice pierced the stairway. "Go, Wufei! _Go!!!"_

Before he could protest, a second round of explosions sounded, violently shaking the building. Wufei felt himself fly backwards as the poorly held foundation of the building shook, pillars falling, the walls cracking and crumbling. His head cracked against a stair when he fell, any semblance of footing or balance gone. Dizzy, he forced himself to his feet in time to see light fill below.

Light from _flames_.

The flames raced up the stairs. He saw, too far below him, the horrified face of his partner as the flames engulfed her body. He turned. He ran.

He burst out of the building just as the flames reached the top. He was still running from them when the building shook one final time and fell into the earth upon itself, clouds roaring up into the sky, sparks from the flames spiraling upward. That was when Wufei dropped to his knees. That was when he screamed. That was when he wept.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Sunlight warmed her face, stirring her from a long, dreamless sleep. Sounds floated in from an open window, the sounds of people outside talking, of horns beeping, of bells ringing that it's time to bring out your trash and recyclables, the _erhu_ being played while voices in crisp Mandarin spoke from far below her window.

This warm feeling. This warm, warm feeling, one she felt two years ago, one she was afraid she'd never feel ever again.

_Shanghai...?Can... can it be?_

Jaenelle opened her eyes. She sat up quickly, expecting to see a desk with a TV, a water boiler, and to see skyscrapers out her window. But instead she saw a TV hanging from the air, a heart monitor, and different skyscrapers, not the ones she yearned to see.

No, she allowed herself to relax, disappointment filling her. Not Shanghai, but... a hospital. Wait... how the heck had she gotten into a _hospital? _The last thing she remembered was being at the club with Sharon, Kai, and Xiaogang...

Jaenelle turned to look to the right and gasped at what she saw sitting there. No way. Just no way.

Why...

The door slid open and a very worried looking Duo and Sharon entered. "...really can't believe this, I seriously- hey, Jae! You're awake!" Sharon gasped.

"Whoa, _Heero!" _Duo's jaw dropped when he looked at the just-now waking Heero Yuy. "You're _still _here?"

Heero made no comment as he turned his head to look at Jaenelle, a smile coming across his face. "You've awake," he stated.

"Yes," Jaenelle replied, her heart pounding as her face heated. Just how long had Heero _been_ there? How long had she been unconscious?

"Heero, man," Duo said quickly. "You need to step out in the hallway with me. Serious business. Something major's happened, and you and I need to phone Une _pronto."_

"Understood." Heero rose and followed Duo out the door silently, casting a glance at Jaenelle before leaving.

Sharon plopped down in the chair Heero had been sleeping in. "He's been here a day and a half," Sharon said, answering what Jaenelle was about to ask.

"You're kidding," Jaenelle raised a hand to her face, shocked. "But... why?"

"He wouldn't leave," Sharon shrugged. "He refused, flat out, to leave your side. Duo was pissed at him since he was stuck doing all the follow up investigation by himself. Heero basically stuck it to him, saying that if Duo didn't know how to work a computer by now that he shouldn't be a Preventer anyway. Duo just stalked out of the room. I figured I better help him out a bit. Gets my mind... off things."

"What happened to me?" Jaenelle whispered.

"You were drugged," Sharon said flatly. "Those assholes were working with whoever it is that organised all this bull." _And, _Sharon added silently, _they said that Gina and I were the real targets. But... I'll tell Jae that later. She'll just worry more, and the last thing that girl needs is more shit to worry about._

Jaenelle looked down, her hands clenching the sheets. "It's my fault," she quickly said, tears forming and falling down her cheeks. "I trusted them. I always trust people. I always think, no, of _course _they don't have some kind of ulterior motive! Of _course_ they don't! I am so damn _stupid!"_

"Hey now," Sharon snapped. "I was fooled too, y'know! Well, I _did_ at first have an uneasy feeling about them..."

"See!" Jaenelle's head snapped up, her tears falling faster. "You at least had a gut instinct! _I _was just an idiot!"

"Stop it," Sharon said, rising from her chair and sitting on the bed next to Jaenelle. "You stop that right now, Jaenelle Kelly! It is _not _your fault. _You _didn't set up this and were like, 'Oh em gee, I think I'll get us potentially killed today! That sounds like a great activity for while Wufei is gone, presumably missing!' Seriously, stop, okay? Is it my fault I believe them?"

"No," Jaenelle sniffed.

"Then it's not your fault either, so stop."

Jaenelle was silent for a moment. Then she asked, "What happened after I fell unconscious?"

Sharon looked down. "A lot of shit. A lot of blood."

"I see." Jaenelle's face softened. "You saw everything?"

"I... really don't want to talk about it," Sharon whispered.

"I'm sorry," Jaenelle amended.

"Don't be," Sharon forced a smile. "It's cool. You didn't know. I just... really don't want to talk about the fucked up shit I saw. So!" Sharon clasped her hands together. "What're you gonna do about Heero?"

Jaenelle blinked. "What about Heero?"

"Come _on!"_ Sharon slammed both hands down on either side of her. "It's _obvious. _He stayed here the entire time, refusing to leave you at all, for over 24 hours. Are you seriously going to just dismiss that as him 'just being nice' or some shit?"

"Actually," Jaenelle looked down, her cheeks flushed. "I was."

Sharon raised her hands in the air, clenched in fists as she looked at the ceiling, frustrated. "No, no, no. That is _not_ it. So! What're you going to do?"

"Nothing," Jaenelle shrugged.

"_Nothing?"_ Sharon raised an eyebrow. "Last I checked, you liked him a lot. Like seriously a lot."

"Maybe-"

"_Maybe? _Miss, 'Oh my god, Heero's even hotter in person I want to hit that oh god he's so handsome and smart and perfect and I don't stand a chance and oh my god?'"

"That was me being an idiot!" Jaenelle puffed.

"Or it was you having a crush, and aww, that's so cute! He likes you too. Now do something."

Jaenelle looked away. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"I can't." Jaenelle shut her eyes, shaking her head. "Heero's technically our teacher-"

"Excuse."

"-and he was just being nice-"

"Lie."

"-and I made a promise." Jaenelle opened her eyes, tears formed anew. "To Wang."

Sharon was silent for a moment. Then she sighed. "Normally I would say that you should let love do its thing and not hold yourself back from being true to yourself and whatever you're feeling, but... Jae, we're not going back to Shanghai. We're not going back to 2007. It's been almost four months now. Spring and summer are gone and autumn's coming. You can't keep that promise now. We have to start a new life, and you hanging on like this... it's not healthy."

"But I promised!" Jaenelle exclaimed, shutting her eyes tight. "I promised that I would return! That I would come back!"

"And you tried to keep it," Sharon nodded. "You did your best. But shit happens, and it's been four months. I highly doubt everyone thinks we just skipped out on the China trip back in 2007. Chances are, our families freaked out, we've been declared missing, it's some kind of alien conspiracy to certain folks now, and _you have been forgiven for not arriving in Shanghai_. Do you have to blame yourself for everything before you can possibly seek out your own happiness?"

Jaenelle was silent, tears falling down her cheeks one by one.

"Jae," Sharon took her friend into a hug. "You need to let go, Jae. You need to move on. This is our life now. We have to accept it."

"Does it have to involve getting drugged and ending up in the hospital or otherwise traumatic experiences?" Jaenelle sniffed.

"I fucking hope not," Sharon grumbled.

The door slid open and a very grim looking Duo, Heero, and Wufei entered the room. "Sally Po is dead," Heero announced flatly.

"Oh shit," Sharon's said, her eyes wide.

"The warehouse she and Wufei were kept in was completely destroyed. We have zero leads," Heero continued. "Nothing at all. The original woman Wufei was tracking hung herself a few days ago."

"I just came back from identifying her," Wufei replied in just as flat of a monotone.

"So... what happens now?" Jaenelle asked.

"Heero will escort you two home," Duo answered. "Wufei and I will stay here."

Wufei sighed. "I have to apologise to you girls. I underestimated the situation. You should not have been here while I was engaged in a mission. I endangered all of you and because of my so-called 'cleverness' my partner is now dead."

"Hey, Wufei," Duo began.

"I am not fit to be a Preventer!" Wufei declared suddenly.

Jaenelle swung her legs out from the bed. "That's not true, _laoshi! _You are a Gundam Pilot, a trained warrior and... erm... former terrorist of sorts. You did everything you could. Sometimes... sometimes no matter how carefully we plan, things don't turn out the way we want them to," she said, her voice getting softer as she looked down at the ground. "But we have to do our best anyway, learn from it, and move on."

Duo blinked; was she talking _just_ about Wufei's situation or something else too?

"Sally _died _because of me!" Wufei snapped.

"No," Jaenelle raised her head, looking Wufei in the eyes. "Sally died because someone decided to kill her. You tried to save her. You did your best. You are not her murderer. It is not your fault."

Wufei muttered in Mandarin. Jaenelle chose not to translate.

"I agree with Jae," Duo nodded. "Let's not waste this, okay? Let's finish here and try to find what we can. Heero?"

"I checked you out of the hospital," Heero said to Jaenelle. "Get dressed in your normal clothes. I have a car waiting outside to take you and Sharon to the shuttle so we can go back to Earth."

"It's so weird thinking about the fact that I'm not on a planet right now," Sharon sighed as she stood up, stretching.

Jaenelle turned to look out the window at the city that looked so like the one she'd been to two very precious years ago, at the scrolling characters displayed on the bank outside; exchange rates and stocks, most likely. She felt the tears tug at her eyes again.

"I'll shut the curtain so you can change," Sharon said gently, pulling the curtains across to give her friend privacy.

Standing and making her way to the window, Jaenelle gazed out at the ground below, watching the hustle and bustle of millions of people going about their business, oblivious to a single girl's pain in a hospital room. She sucked in her breath, Sharon's words swirling through her mind. _So, this is where it ends, _she thought to herself, a bittersweet feeling filling her very being. _You're gone, I'm gone, our paths no longer have a chance of crossing. You probably got married, had a child, grew old and died while my name is listed in some document somewhere, a missing person, an unsolved mystery. They say love conquers all, but even love cannot span the centuries that separate us now._

Touching the window gently, Jaenelle smiled, allowing herself yet again to let the tears fall, blurring the vision of everything below. _I know I can't keep living like this. I know I have to accept that this is the life I must live. I guess I had been hoping that if I refused to let go that some magical portal would open and I would be at the airport with you greeting me. I'd been thinking if I accepted it, that portal would close forever. But I can't keep fooling myself. Not when... not when maybe there's something here for me after all._

Turning silently, Jaenelle slipped out of the hospital robes and into her own clothes before she faced the window again, the feelings within her warring with each other as she approached the window, knowing what she had to do. Her chest hurt, as if it were difficult to breathe, difficult for her heart to beat. _I'm going now, _Jaenelle said silently to the sky, to time itself, to _him_. She shut her eyes, thinking, _I'm going to go live my own life now. I hope that's okay. I hope you lived a long and beautiful life filled with the happiness I'd hoped to show you. I hope you finally believed in love and happiness, even if I wasn't the one to show you it was there. No matter where I go, no matter what I do, you were my first love and I... I will never forget you. I love you. _

"_Wo zongshi ai ni," _Jaenelle whispered aloud. "I will always love you. But... I have to go now. Goodbye."

With a final, long look at the sky, Jaenelle turned around, pulled open the curtain to where Sharon, Heero, and Duo were waiting. She followed them out of the room, shutting the door behind her as her heart filled itself with sadness, relief, and almost, almost without regret.

_Goodbye..._


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Gina and Megh walked the school's outdoor track in silence, needing fresh air after what they had just experienced. Quatre had been kind enough to give the two of them a report of what had happened. Heero and Duo had thwarted a kidnapping attempt of Sharon and Jaenelle. Wufei and Sally had failed in their objective, had been outsmarted and held captive themselves with Wufei the only survivor of the ordeal. Steph was now off on some very important mission involving Relena Darlian-Peacecraft. And they were at Preventer Headquarters all alone save Quatre, Trowa, and Noin.

It was for the best, Quatre had insisted, that they remain where they could be monitored and kept safe. It was obvious that they were all targets now. They were to remain on campus no matter what.

"What I don't get," Megh said, breaking the silence, "is why these people even _want _us. We're nothing special. We're just a bunch of people who happened to trip and stumble through the wrong time hole! I mean, it was kind of cool at first being trained as real Preventers and finding out that, holy shit, Gundam Wing actually happens in the future but... well, this isn't cool anymore," she finished, shrugging.

Gina sighed. "I got nothing. For once, I have no ideas anymore."

"Now _that's _a scary thought," Megh echoed Gina's sigh. "You're always the one with the ideas."

"Yeah," Gina agreed. "But what's there to think? Nothing makes sense anymore. It's not as if any of us have any secret talents that outshine the Preventers'. My computer skills are mediocre compared to the other pilots', Sharii's Tai Chi is nothing compared to Wufei's, Jaenelle's language skills don't outshine any of the pilots' and I doubt anyone cares about your anthropology degree or Steph's business degree enough to want to pull us through some kind of anti-space warp for it. Other than Steph looking creepily like Relena, we don't have anything to offer these people. So I honestly have no clue."

Megh thought for a moment before shrugging. "Maybe in the future we ended up doing something crazy like saving the world and they kidnapped us to prevent it from happening?"

Gina shook her head. "Even if that was true, they would have stopped after that. None of the Preventers have any technology or means to send us back to our time and obviously this changes the future enough where whatever we would've done in the past wouldn't have happened now. But... maybe you're onto something. Maybe something else that happened that involved us someone wants for some reason."

"Too bad none of us can predict the future well enough to figure out just what the fuck it even _is,"_ Megh muttered. "Then we could at least have a damn clue as what to _do_ now."

"Mm," Gina nodded as they approached the door to head back inside. "That'd be nice. But I guess we're stuck waiting."

Megh laughed harshly, watching Gina open the door before she followed her inside. "Times like this, I seriously hate waiting. That whole 'you could be targeted to die at any second' thing, it's getting old. I just want to flick off the universe."

"So do I," Gina murmured as the door shut behind them. "So do I."

* * *

Jaenelle sucked in her breath before she slid open the door to the cockpit, her heart pounding in her chest as she stepped inside.

Heero turned to look over his shoulder. His normally cold eyes warmed, she noticed, when he saw it was her. She wasn't sure what to think. Maybe she was imagining it or embellishing his reactions to her...

"Is something the matter?" he asked.

"Oh," Jaenelle replied quickly, red flushing her cheeks. "No. Sharii's asleep and I'm just... um... bored. So I thought I'd see if you wanted company."

"I see. Sit," Heero gestured to the co-pilot's chair.

As Jaenelle sat, Heero added, "Don't touch anything."

_Great, _Jaenelle sighed to herself, sitting back in the chair and quickly folding her hands in her lap. _Does everyone think I'm some kind of walking accident waiting to happen? Dear god. Maybe he doesn't want me here? _Her mind flashed back to the conversation she had with Sharii in the hospital about Heero. _Oh god, I think Sharii's nuts. I'm just being an idiot. Maybe she's wrong, no, she's totally wrong, there is no way that _Heero Yuy _of all people would have any kind of feeling at all for me like _that_ so I should-_

Heero raised his hand, snapping Jaenelle out of her thoughts. In his hand was the book she'd lent to him, his fingers stuck between pages and holding his place. She blinked, surprised. "You're still reading it?"

"Actually," Heero cleared his throat a little, focusing his eyes a little too hard on the cover. "I've read it three times. It's... very interesting to me."

"Oh?" Jaenelle replied, her heart pounding even more. He _likes_ the book? Enough to read it that many times?

"Yes. The concept of philosophy itself being something full of love and care for humanity... I never looked at it that way before," Heero continued. "I admit, I haven't read a lot of the people your professor mentioned in his book, but it really has... helped me."

Was it her imagination or was he blushing?

"Is this your favourite book?" Heero asked.

"One of them," Jaenelle nodded. "I also rather like Jiddu Krishnamurti's _Freedom from the Known_, but he's not to a lot of people's tastes."

"Why?"

Jaenelle shrugged once. "Oh, just the way he talks. He's very much so blunt and a lot of what he had to say can offend people. I guess it's because no one likes being told that they're wrong, at least not to the extent that he goes."

"Tell me more," Heero inquired, turning in his chair to face her more directly.

Jaenelle blinked, casting a nervous glance out the front window. Shouldn't he be focused on flying the plane?

"It's on autopilot," Heero said as if he were reading her thoughts.

Jaenelle nodded and sat back, trying to think. It had been a while since she had read Krishnamurti's book and she wasn't sure if she could quote him or talk about what he has to say without sounding like an uneducated idiot. It was always easier for her to read and internalise philosophy than it was to explain it verbally. "Well," Jaenelle exhaled, looking straight ahead, "In one of my classes we had to read his essay on love from that book and write about the concept of love. My classmates were really angry with what Krishnamurti had to say, and I was the only one in the entire class who understood exactly what he meant and why it made sense."

Jaenelle glanced at Heero nervously, worried she'd already bored him, but he was still watching her and listening intently, so she continued. "Krishnamurti basically called out humanity on its dependence and obsession with love and humanity's necessity to associate it with relationships, personal security and comfort. He called what most people did in the name of love to actually be selfishness, and that we divide love from our own pleasures, thus corrupting the actual meaning of love even more than it already needs to be."

"I see," Heero nodded. "And?"

"The most important message out of what Krishnamurti had to say was that love was simplicity. If you really love someone, you don't _need_ anything from them. Love is a giving thing, not a taking thing. We have lots of thoughts like, 'Oh, is that person thinking of me, do they love me, do they miss me' and while we're talking about the person in question, in reality it's about how they feel about you or how their world revolves around _you, _and Krishnamurti argued that that was not love. That was selfishness, and I agree, it is."

"Then what is proper with love?" Heero asked.

_I can't believe I'm having this conversation with Heero Yuy of all people, _Jaenelle thought to herself as she considered her answer. Finally she said, "Love just is. It's when you want someone to be happy, when their needs matter more than your own, when it doesn't matter to you how they feel about you or if they love you back or not. You love them anyway. You want to take care of them and yes, of course, you want to be with them, support them, build a life with them. But... even if that latter part doesn't happen, it doesn't matter because you love them. Their happiness matters more than yours."

For a few long minutes both Jaenelle and Heero were silent. Jaenelle kept looking out the window, wondering if she'd said too much, if maybe she went too far. Finally Heero said, "I was... brought up without the understanding of emotion. Emotions, I had been told, were useless on the battlefield and that was where I belonged. So, I am not sure if I understand entirely the emotion of love to confidently agree or disagree, but it... well, it makes sense to me."

Jaenelle nodded, forcing a slight smile and unsure of what to say.

"Tell me," Heero said after a short silence, "I understand you loved someone very much before you... came here."

Jaenelle's heart thumped sharply, painfully, as if it were a knife itself. She shut her eyes, the images floating to her mind of that time, unbidden. "Yes."

"Did you love like that? Like how Krishnamurti said one should love."

Sucking in her breath, Jaenelle held it for a few moments before exhaling slowly. This was a hard question, and not one she'd planned on explaining to someone who potentially had feelings for her. However, if she were to be concerned about that, wouldn't that make her a hypocrite? _Love doesn't ask for anything, _she reminded herself. _It's my insecurity that makes me afraid to tell him this. But..._

"Yes," Jaenelle finally answered. "At least, I'd like to think so. It didn't matter to me what happened to me. I can't lie and say I wouldn't have been hurt if it turned out Wang didn't love me, and you know it's certainly possible he never did. I... never knew. I was returning to China on a 'maybe'."

"A maybe?" Heero looked surprised. "You were moving countries for a simple 'maybe'?"

"I loved him," Jaenelle shrugged, fighting the urge to cry, finding it hard to breathe. "And I knew if I didn't come back, he would think real love didn't exist. That mattered more to me than anything. I couldn't allow that to happen. I couldn't let him think that real love was nothing but a hoax, an idea created to waste time during existence itself. If I kept my promise, even if he didn't love me back, at least I knew I showed him it was real."

Jaenelle stopped talking. She knew if she would continue she would start to cry and the last thing she wanted was to cry in front of Heero Yuy. She hated crying in front of people as it was and she, who was an especially sensitive person, hated crying in front of _anyone_, despite that it happened more often than she would prefer.

"I..."

Jaenelle turned her head to look at Heero. His face was set in the utmost serious of expressions but his eyes were soft, almost... almost truly sorrowful. Her heart pounded in her chest, aching as she looked into his clear blue eyes.

"...I think whoever you love," Heero said, his voice trembling as he swallowed hard, "will be a very lucky man."

Jaenelle was taken aback. That was definitely not what she was expecting to hear. Turning around to face forward, she decided to take the heat off her for a second. "You've never loved anyone before?"

Heero turned then, righting himself in his chair. No longer facing her, she couldn't make out the emotions in his eyes, couldn't figure out anything. "We'll be entering the Earth's atmosphere in about a half hour," he announced, "and I need to concentrate." He moved his hand and switched off the auto-pilot, taking the wheel with both hands.

Knowing when to take a hint, Jaenelle rose out of her chair. "I'm sorry if I offended you," she offered softly.

A slight melancholy smile crossed Heero's lips for only a small moment. He made no other comment.

Removing herself from the cockpit quickly, Jaenelle made her way down the shuttle, her heart pounding. What had just happened? What was going on between them? Anything? Or was she seriously giving herself too much credit? Damn, she wished Gina had been there! Gina would have known how to read Heero perfectly and given Jaenelle answers. Gina could read anyone well, being so withdrawn and introverted herself.

She had resolved to tell Gina about what happened when the door to the cabin flung open. "Oh my god, Jae," Sharon said hurriedly. "You'd better get in here and watch this."

"What?" Jaenelle asked, following Sharon into the room on her heels and sitting down on the bed. "The news?"

"Look," Sharon lifted the remote and turned up the volume.

* _...as Vice-Foreign Minister Darlian announced her formal decision to run against President Jenson in the most peculiar manner earlier this afternoon... *_

Jaenelle's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my fucking god. That's not Relena. That's-"

"Steph," Sharon finished for her, groaning.

Fooling everyone else in the entire world into thinking she was Relena, Sharon and Jaenelle watched their friend on the screen, looking nervous as she could be, stare at the small monitor that very likely had the speech she was _supposed_ to say on it and instead shrugged and said, _"Umm... vote for me!"_ before completely bolting off the stage.

"Oh _hell no_ she did _not_," Sharon facepalmed.

"This is seriously, seriously bad," Jaenelle groaned. "Out of character for how Relena would _actually _be, much?"

* _The Vice Foreign Minister has not been available for comment and is still not available at this time, * _the anchor concluded.

"Damn," Jaenelle breathed.

"I wonder why the hell they had Steph replace Relena right now though?" Sharon mused. "It makes no sense. That's fucked up, and why did Steph even _do_ that? "

"I agree, definitely," Jaenelle nodded. "We gotta get in a proper seat though. Heero says we're almost to the atmosphere. Better strap ourselves in."

"Better strap in for more than that," Sharon muttered as she followed Jaenelle to the proper seating area. "Because I'm willing to bet there's a big ass mess waiting for us when we get home."


	18. Chapter 18

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **So... I haven't updated since mid-January. I'd like to say it was because I was ridiculously busy either studying Chinese or I received some new aria to work on at my singing lessons... but in _reality_ it was because I was.... well, ridiculously lazy (like... _really_ lazy) and was enjoying my month off of class doing quite literally nothing. My muse – along with my brain and any sense of wanting to do anything constructive – abandoned me right after I'd updated.

However, the new semester has started here in Shanghai and I have the _Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi _(Chinese proficiency test) to worry about, so my updates are going to be FAR less frequent. But don't worry! I'll update when I can and whenever inspiration strikes.

**Chapter 18**

Hearing the sharp knock on the door, Quatre looked up at Heero as he walked into his office. "Heero!" Quatre smiled earnestly. "You're back!"

"We touched down on Earth yesterday. I arrived at headquarters about twenty minutes ago after dropping off the girls at their dorms," Heero replied, stopping short of Quatre's desk and holding a piece of paper in his hand. "I already reported to Noin."

"And?" Quatre asked gently. He hadn't spoken to Noin yet today and if Heero was in his office after reporting, this meant news.

"Noin and Une have decided to re-open the school since it is obvious that the events that occurred here have little if nothing to do with the students themselves. It's obvious this was set up by people in our cleaning staff who we should have screened better. However," Heero cleared his throat. "They've decided that we are going to run new programs now when it comes to the curriculum."

"Oh?" Quatre blinked, surprised. "I hope it's nothing out of the way we've been teaching so far."

"See for yourself." Heero handed Quatre the paper. "This is the outline."

Quatre took it and sat back in his chair, reading it over and murmuring to himself over certain points. "I see. This is actually a good idea. So, when do we start re-organizing our lesson plans?"

"Now."

Quatre sighed with a slight smile. "I had a feeling we'd be doing overtime this week. At least it's for something more positive than what we've _been_ dealing with."

Heero nodded. "Duo and Wufei will arrive back in an hour. Unless Duo or Wufei stumble across anything, we're back at square one." He paused for a moment, considering, then admitted, "We have no choice but to continue with things and hope that things reveal themselves in time."

"Yeah, it would seem so," Quatre agreed, allowing his eyes to gloss over the paper, the memories of the past few months flashing before his eyes. "I just hope it's not at the expense of anymore lives."

* * *

"What the hell _happened?!" _

Steph set down her bags and sighed deeply as she turned around to face her four friends. "Relena probably wanted to ditch her total pacifism on the way home and strangle me to death."

"That we gathered," Megh chuckled a little darkly.

"Yeah, but what caused this?" Gina inquired.

Steph sighed again and pointed to her eyes.

"I don't get it," Jaenelle blurted.

"I'm near-sighted," Steph shrugged. "I don't need glasses normally and I can drive without any issues, but when it comes to really seriously tiny text that is on a tiny television set to the side?"

"Oh, shit!" Sharon burst out with a loud laugh before covering her mouth. "My bad," she apologised quickly for laughing.

"So no one knew you were near-sighted? Gosh," Gina shook her head.

"How would they know?" Jaenelle pointed out. "Steph never wears glasses or anything."

"And since we're not good enough to be in flight training," Gina added, "no one's taken notice of her eyesight or limits with it."

"That's true," Jaenelle agreed. "They haven't had a need to test us at all."

"They probably will now," Megh muttered.

"So, what happened after that?" Jaenelle asked. "And why put you in this position to begin with?"

"There's a divide," Steph explained, "between supporters of Jenson and Relena. Jenson believes that some weapons are necessary for basic defense whereas Relena argues that that's where it all begins. Lady Une told me that if I can pull off the short speech announcing her decision to run, then it would be good for when we visit the colonies, which mainly support Jenson and still at times don't trust Relena. Oh, and for some minor appearances and speeches. Relena's going to school on the side to get a degree in international affairs and sometimes she can't miss a test, so I'd have to fill in, give the speech, and go."

"They really ought to just record Relena's speech ahead of time," Sharon pointed out. "That way this won't happen in the future."

"Good idea," Megh nodded. "You'd better get used to lip syncing in a way, Steph."

Jaenelle and Gina nodded in agreement. Steph only sighed.

"I gotta admit," Sharon smirked, "that as bad as it looks for Relena's campaign right now, that... well, that was fucking funny, Steph."

Steph just shot a glare at Sharon, who erupted into a fit of laughter again.

"I _knew_ you were down here," a familiar voice called out and soon there was Duo sticking his head in the doorway. "I can tell by Sharii's obnoxious laughter."

Sharon raised both hands in the air in a mockingly why-God-why type of gesture as the others laughed. "Yeah. That's it. Blame the loud black one," Sharon added in a dramatic tone.

"So!" Duo clasped his hands together, entering Steph's room fully. "Since you guys are the first students here, we get to let you in on something awesome. We have brand new curriculums now. We've added a couple of disciplines that may make you guys' time studying here a bit easier."

"How so?" Steph asked.

"Well," Duo drawled out, leaning against the wall, "we're kind of like an international police-slash-peace watch organisation, right? So, we are lacking some things and us five, as awesome as we are, can't do it alone. We're introducing three new areas of training, one of which includes interpretation and translation. Jaenelle, that's right up your alley since you're already multi-lingual. Another area includes K-9 work-"

"Sweet!" Megh blurted out. "That's awesome!"

"I can see where Megh will go," Duo chuckled. "The last work involves design, mainly designing new computer programs and equipment for the Preventers to use as well as maintaining our servers. It's just an add-on to the computer program we already had, only now we're allowing the students to actually contribute to what we already have instead of just using what we five have already designed."

"Hm," Gina nodded.

"So, that covers it." Duo stretched, pushing off the wall. "I think we're going to also try and have some after school cirriculars too so you all aren't too bored doing nothing but military-esque training and all the jazz you've been doing. That was Quatre's idea."

"Such as?" Megh asked.

"You'll see," Duo grinned. "Once registration starts. Oh and by the way, the night before registration, you gotta move your stuff out."

"What?" all five girls chimed in unison.

"We're doing bag checks at registration," Duo explained. "So, that means you have to empty your bags, display the goods, you know. So if there's anything you don't want us to find, you'd better get rid of it." He cast a glance at Sharii before grinning. "Of course, generous donations of discarded items such as condoms matching Miss Gladden's hair-"

"Oh, please fuck off and die," Sharon smiled sweetly.

"Can't tell the God of Death to die, sweetheart," Duo winked at her, causing Sharon's teeth to grind a little as she kept smiling a bit more viciously. "Anyway, I'll catch you ladies later."

"Um," Jaenelle raised her hand slightly in the air as if she were in class. "So. If we have to pack our stuff the night before, then where are on earth are we going to sleep?"

"With me in my bed!" Duo grinned.

"W-What?" Jaenelle sputtered. Megh just shook her head, so did Gina. Sharii kept smiling a little too sweetly and Steph just laughed.

"Kidding, kidding," Duo amended, chuckling at Jaenelle's horrified expression. "Besides, I know you'd rather be in _Heero's _bed."

"Wh- no! I-! That is-! I really don't-!"Jaenelle sputtered even more, her face bright red, causing Duo to crack up laughing as if he'd told the funniest joke in the world. "Oh, poor innocent Jaenelle," Duo said after his hysterics died down. "You and your land of unicorns and happy things."

Jaenelle decided saying nothing was a wise option. Megh coughed to hide her own laughter.

"Anyway, _ciao,"_ Duo waved. "See you at registration on Friday!" Then he shut the door behind him, laughing still.

"Th-th-that was awkward," Jaenelle blurted, stuttering.

"Want me to kill him for you?" Sharon asked, clasping her hands together happily.

"God of Death thing, remember?" Megh pointed out.

Sharon snorted. "Oh hell no is he actually a fucking god-"

"There's always duct tape?" Steph suggested.

"Guys?" Gina piped up. "Did anyone notice that he didn't really answer the question about where we're going to sleep?"

"Shit," Sharon sighed.

* * *

To the absolute dismay of all the students who had returned to the Preventers' headquarters on Friday, the line at registration was absolutely, horrifically, _dreadfully_ long with only the five pilots running the actual booth and taking care of everything that had to be taken care of. Each of the students were groaning, having to wait in the excruciatingly long line with the proper papers and their suitcases. Gina, being the intelligent one of the group, had organised everything into a manila folder and had placed everything in perfect order of what to be handed out when.

"Where'd you get the folder?" Steph asked Gina as they all began to lug their suitcases up a stairway. It was the final stretch for them. They were almost to the tables to finish all of this crap.

"I had it in my suitcase from China," Gina shrugged.

"You actually thought to bring a manila folder with you?" Steph blinked.

Gina just grinned and held up a peace sign. "Always prepared!"

"Man, they better just accept it the way it is, because I ain't doing this again," Sharon muttered. "They're gonna have to deal with the fact that I folded it in half."

"What if they don't take it?" Jaenelle asked.

Sharon let out a single harsh laugh. "I'ma _make _them take it!"

Megh plopped down her suitcase as she made it up the last stair. "We had better be fucking done with this soon, because this is seriously ridiculous."

"I'm hungry," Jaenelle stated.

"Honey, you're _always_ hungry," Steph laughed.

"True," Jaenelle shrugged sheepishly.

After ten more minutes of small talk it was finally their turn to hand over their registration forms. Wufei, being the first chair they came to, ushered Sharon over to review her papers and paused at one point, frowning. "Miss Gladden, you did not fill in anything for your talents."

"Yeah, well," Sharon shrugged. "I don't have any."

Quatre, who was in the middle of attending another student, smiled warmly at Sharon. "Oh come now, you must have some talents!"

Sharon thought about it for a moment, scribbled something down, then slid it to Wufei, a smug look on her face.

Wufei read the sheet and slammed it down on the table. "Miss Gladden! 'I'm black' is _not _an acceptable answer for your talents!"

Sharon looked over to Jaenelle. "Hey Jae, you hear that? He's saying me being black is not a talent! Ooooh, that's _racist!"_

Wufei's jaw dropped. He sputtered. "It is not-"

"What's wrong with being black?" Sharon countered.

"I did _not_-"

"Ooooh, oooh, he be racist and stuff! I'ma tell my Mama, I shol am," Sharon said, forcing her expression to be stone faced and serious as Jaenelle, Gina, and Megh were clutching their stomachs, trying very hard not to burst out in laughter.

Snarling and sputtering, Wufei stamped the _APPROVED_ seal on Sharon's papers and practically thrust them to her. "Get to the next station, Gladden. _Next," _he snapped harshly, his face still red from having dealt with Sharon.

Sharon was still cackling to herself as she finished registering for the semester.

"You realise you're going to hell, right?" Steph asked, wiping tears from her eyes from laughing so much.

"Oh yeah, they arranged a special ticket just for me," Sharon grinned to herself.

Jaenelle handed her forms to Wufei who frowned, but not as deeply as when he read Sharon's. "Your talents are singing, languages, and basically anything dealing with the arts." He raised an eyebrow before stamping the paper. "You're lucky we're starting a language programme otherwise you'd have no place here at all."

Jaenelle just laughed nervously and thanked him before making a quick exit.

"I wonder what all the fuss is about our talents," Jaenelle commented to Sharon as she joined her, pulling her suitcase behind her quickly in order to catch up.

"Who knows?" Sharon shrugged. "I'll bet we threw off their balance when we came here. I mean, they're stuck taking care of us and except for maybe Gina, none of us are good at computers enough to even consider specialising in anything here and we sure as hell weren't in shape enough for the rest of the programmes!"

"Very true," Jaenelle sighed. "I certainly hope I find my place here. Though I confess, this is an issue I should've thought about months ago."

After getting their pictures taken for their new school I.D.s with Quatre, and signing up for classes with Trowa and Duo, the final station was with Heero: the bag check.

"One at a time," Heero instructed sharply.

Sharon lifted her bag up and unzipped it. Heero flipped through her things. "Two cosmetic organisers, clothing, books, and... hair?" Heero lifted up a bag of brightly coloured hair.

"New extensions," Sharon grinned.

Heero nodded and wrote it down. "You're clear. Next?"

Megh plopped up her bag, followed by Gina and Steph. Nothing came up as out of the ordinary and they were cleared quickly. Finally, it was Jaenelle's turn. She hoisted her bag up.

"Clothing, makeup bags, books-" Heero stopped suddenly, his eyes narrowed. "You wrapped something in this sweater," he said. "Are you concealing something?"

Jaenelle turned red. "It's nothing, it's really nothing. Seriously, it's nothing!"

He raised an eyebrow, obviously not convinced as he unfolded a sleeve and yanked the sweater in the air. Something brown, green, and blue fell in his lap.

He stared, shocked.

Jaenelle turned away, inwardly wailing.

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa!" _Duo laughed, quickly snatching it and holding it up in the air before Heero could stop him. "It's a _plushie! _Of _you_, Heero!"

Jaenelle dove across the table and grabbed it, pulling it into her arms. "YES. WELL. THANK YOU." She grabbed the suitcase and tossed it and her sweater in quickly before slamming it shut and refusing to look at Heero in the eyes. "Okay. It was before I knew you were real. Didn't exactly know I was going to meet you. Seriously. I'd like to die now. Under a rock. Can I go? Yes? Okay."

Then before anyone could stop her, Jaenelle was hurrying out of the room, embarrassed beyond belief.

"Damn," both Sharon and Duo said in unison.

Heero just stared at the space where Jaenelle's suitcase had been seconds before, shocked into silence.

"Um?" a student said, placing his suitcase in front of Heero.

"Oh. Yes." Heero snapped out of it and quickly unzipped the student's suitcase, his entire face and ears red while he continued his duty. Other than the colour of his face, he showed no signs of what had just happened.

"Let's go find Jae before she mentally beats herself up for the rest of eternity," Steph pointed out.

"It's too late, she probably already killed herself nine thousand times," Sharon sighed.

"Over that, maybe," Gina said, scratching her head.

Sharon grinned. "It's over NINE THOUSAND- okay, sorry, shouldn't be laughing right now. Let's find Jae, shall we?"

The four remaining girls hurried out of the room, knowing that this was yet again going to be an interesting semester.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"I have an assignment for you," Une said as she entered Heero's office.

Heero looked up from his laptop and the papers he had been looking over, the usual frozen masks in place. He seemed expressionless and blank, but she could slightly feel the tension in the air.

Holding up a newspaper, Une pointed to the article, tapping the picture twice. "You know about this?"

Heero didn't even blink. "The fête being hosted by Dorothy Catalonia for the nobles and politicians in two weeks. Yes."

"You're going."

"No."

Une set the paper down on his desk. "The Vice Foreign Minister formally requested-"

"No." Heero shut his laptop quickly, his lips pressed together tightly as anger flashed in his eyes. It felt as if he was burning hatred into her very soul.

Une looked exasperated. "She won't have anyone else, Heero."

"Then she can contact another agency."

"There _aren't_ any-"

"_No," _Heero repeated firmly, through gritted teeth. "Let Quatre escort her. He's good with politicians and nobles. He actually has people skills. I am not doing this, Lady Une. I am not doing this again."

Une hesitated, then said what she absolutely needed to say. "Heero, this isn't up for discussion. Either you go or you lose your job."

The expression on his face was so horridly, horridly blank.

She shut her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Heero... I'm sorry."

When she opened her eyes, she was standing alone in his office.

* * *

Heero loaded the gun and waited for the simulator to start. He didn't care if all the gun had were rubber bullets. He just wanted to shoot something. He wanted to destroy something.

He hated feeling like this. Absolutely hated it. It was enough to be angry, but to feel angry enough to actually want to _shoot _something? He always felt like a monster afterwards. Like a killing machine whose only release was in destruction.

Disgusting.

The lights dimmed.

Heero cocked his gun, steading his breathing and synchronizing it with his heartbeats.

Heartbeats.

How long ago had it been? He was a man of twenty-three now; he had been eighteen when it happened. When everything went horribly wrong.

The buzzer sounded and Heero felt himself run as the course opened itself to him, targets popping up. His arms flung in front of him with an all-too perfect accuracy as his mind wandered, remembered.

He hated remembering on how he honestly thought he had been in love with her. It disgusted him to think about how stupidly naïve he had been. She had appeared to him as someone who understood him, sympathised with him, saw the man behind the machine, the weapon he'd believed he'd been. Through her, he'd discovered the humanity within himself, something he thought he had gone beyond in his rigorous training as a youth.

The targets blurred as the memories returned, but his aim still was so pathetically accurate.

He remembered finding the person beneath the ideal he'd believed her to be.

He remembered her apologies, his shock.

And by the time he finished the course, he felt that he didn't feel any relief at all, only a sickening churning of his stomach and too many memories of what he thought had been real but had been only a lie.

* * *

Duo watched Heero towel himself off and sighed to himself. He knew he was about to get into a fight. He absolutely knew he was about to get into a fight. He'd been in the middle of a nice chat with Steph and a few other students in his office when Une knocked and told him what happened.

So, now he was here, wondering if he'd finally get the story out of Heero as to why he avoided Relena whenever he could.

Duo, along with the other pilots except perhaps Wufei, had thought that Heero and Relena would somehow, someday end up together. Heero went to crazy lengths as a bodyguard to protect her both during the war and after the war. He thought it was more than protecting the ideal of peace that drove Heero to such lengths. Heero needed someone kind and gentle, someone understanding in his life. He thought that person had been Relena.

Until five years ago, anyway.

Whatever had happened had spooked him badly; Heero had never talked about it, never opened up about it. Relena hadn't either. She'd only tried harder to be close to him. It seemed to only frighten him away until Relena's job kept her busy and Heero's job kept him away.

Duo shook his head. He was pretty sure he wouldn't get anywhere in this discussion, but he figured he'd try anyway. Opening the door, Duo let out a sharp whistle to get Heero's attention. He wasn't at all surprised that Heero looked annoyed when he approached. "What?" Heero demanded.

"Une says you're stuck being Princess' date in a week," Duo said, leaning against the doorway.

"Hn."

What a great – and pathetically normal - start. Duo sighed. "Look, I don't know what happened between you and Relena. Neither of you will talk about it, but Relena's been trying to make it up to you for _years-"_

"I am not talking about this now, Duo."

Duo's hands flew in the air. "Then when are you?" he demanded. "You haven't told _anyone _about this and the more you shut your mouth about it, the more you look like a prissy two-year-old who doesn't want to play with someone on the playground!"

"Not my problem."

Duo wasn't sure if he wanted to punch Heero in the face or kick him in the nuts. Not that Heero uses them anyway, but... "Has it ever occurred to you that I am your _friend _and you can actually come to me about this?"

"Respect my decision then, _friend," _Heero snapped. "I am not talking about this. Not now, not ever. If I have to escort Relena in order to keep the only job that I halfway am suited for, then I will do it. But that is all anyone needs to know." Heero then pushed past Duo, ignoring any further protests as he walked swiftly down the hallway and disappeared.

Well, damn. Duo sighed and shook his head. He had a feeling he wouldn't get anywhere and he was pretty much proved right. If Heero was spooked that bad, then maybe he ought to go with the guy. But Princess couldn't have _two _dates, and he wasn't an official politician or anything...

Whistling to himself, Duo headed down the hallway and towards Quatre's office, deciding to ask his favourite Arab a favour.

* * *

The meeting, to Relena's surprise, had been cut short. The representative of the territory of Afghanistan and one of the ambassadors from North America had begun to fight. Their viewpoints total opposites, eventually the discussion grew violent, when the North American had loosely insulted his Muslim religion. From there, it had just exploded into a childish spurt of insults and eventually had to be adjured by the current President Jenson.

Quatre Raberba Winner, Relena Darlian-Peacecraft had noticed, said nothing during the time, torn between wanting to keep peace and the insult towards his own religion.

It seemed, Relena sighed to herself as she settled down at her desk, that religion would always play a role in politics, no matter how much they tried to separate. These cultures, she was beginning to notice, would never truly get along. There were too many differences, too many culture barricades. Negotiations were getting harder and harder to resolve.

Could it be that her goals, as Heero had said before so long ago during the war, were just silly ideals? Were they the dreams of a little girl?

"Don't lose hope, Minister Darlian," Lillian, her attendant said as she brought in a plate and some food. "Mankind wants to embrace peace. It'll be hard, but you can do it."

Relena smiled gently. "Thank you, Lillian."

"For now, my lady, I think you should forget about all that for now and focus on the fête! It's only two weeks away, and it's an important event to the nobility of Europe. Does my lady even have a dress?" Lillian inquired.

"That's a very good question," Relena murmured. Dorothy Catalonia had become Duchess after her grandfather, Duke Dermail, died in the Eve Wars. Since this is her fête, Relena knew she would have to dress to impress, and that included Heero as well, whom she'd personally contracted for this.

Heero.

Relena shut her eyes, the bad memories welling up inside of her. He'd never forgiven her, not completely. On one hand, she didn't blame him. She... hadn't exactly been herself. But he'd never been able to look her in the eyes again. The look of disgust and shame...

Ever since then, she'd apologised, tried to polish her skills as a lady and get back in his good graces, to be a friend at the very least again. But it'd never succeeded, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't move on from him. She loved him too much.

This time...

This time would be the last time. Five years have come and gone. If she couldn't convince him to change his mind, then she would have to give up. She couldn't wait for him forever, even though deep in her heart she truly believed it had been true love. _Was _true love.

Trying to take her mind of her mistake, Relena walked over to her closet and opened the doors, frowning at what she saw. Pargan had thankfully brought her formal dresses with her to her new office. Each of them were beautiful, but none of them, she realized, were _gowns_. They were the dresses a girl wore to her senior prom, not fit for a Foreign Minister, and certainly not a princess.

"I have nothing to wear," Relena said, irritated, and shut the doors.

Lillian blinked, setting down the feather duster she had been using. "My lady, you have plenty of dresses-"

"But nothing at all what I am looking for," Relena sighed. "I need a seamstress, or a dress shop. Is there anything around here?"

"Yes, Minister, but it would be awfully expensive to buy a dress with only two weeks notice, especially if it needs alterations!"

Relena sighed again. "I'll manage. Oh, will you connect Heero Yuy to the line? I shall require us both to be clothed. I think we should match."

* * *

"Back from your meeting, Q-man?"

Quatre shut the door to his office, surprised to see Duo on the couch. "Duo," Quatre half-smiled, exhausted. "What brings you here?"

Duo held up a package.

"I hope it's food," Quatre blurted, slumping in his chair.

"You have your wish." Duo grinned before sitting straight up and putting his hands on his knees. "I have a favour to ask you. If you're too tired to hear it, I'll be back at ass o'clock in the morning to ask."

"Since you don't like to get up early, I'll assume this is a big deal. What is it?"Quatre leaned forward, opening the package.

Duo just grinned.

* * *

"You're serious?" Megh asked.

"Yep," Duo nodded, leaning against her doorway. "You'll pass along the message, right?"

"Sure," Megh shrugged, raising an eyebrow. "No reason not to." But why was it so important?

"Great," Duo winked. "Make sure it _just_ goes to her, okay? I know how your gender likes to gossip. So! See ya in class tomorrow, and you better not forget the homework from last Friday"

"Shit, we had homework?" Megh blurted.

"Pretending I didn't hear that. Later!" Duo waved over his shoulder as he walked away.

Shaking her head, Megh turned and headed towards the lobby where Sharon, Gina, and Jaenelle were getting their game on. She hesitated. She'd make sure she'd talk about this later, when the person in question was alone and they could talk in private. She wasn't too keen on keeping things from the others, but what else could she do? Duo was kind of her teacher and all.

"I still think it's awesome that you got _Resident Evil: 4 _downloaded on your system," Megh said to Gina as she flopped down on the couch next to Jaenelle, who was happily stuffing her face with pizza.

"Especially since no one bothered to come out with good video games after a hundred or so years post-death," Sharon commented.

"It's odd how popular culture just kind of died out," Jaenelle added, swallowing a bite. "I read online that basically once mankind started to go into space that eventually the entertainment business just faded, like it went on a hiatus. It hasn't been until the last three years that things are starting to boom again. Things almost went backwards. Notice the clothing on the nobles? Kind of reminds me of the Victorian era sometimes."

"Yeah," Sharon nodded, then sat upright in her seat, watching Gina control the protagonist on the screen "Gina, you are being pursued by a thousand zombies, and you are _looting_."

"Shouldn't you, y'know, get _out_ of there?" Jaenelle insisted.

Megh shook her head, amused. "Gina's about to die and she wants those goods, man. Hey, what was our homework in Duo's class?"

"That one he co-teaches with Heero?" Sharii asked. "Something about the five points of stealth and its reference to... hell, I forget. I wrote it down though."

"SWIPE TWICE," Jaenelle suddenly snapped, referring to the protagonist breaking boxes on the screen to get money or ammunition.

"Why?" Megh blinked.

Jaenelle shuddered. "Because if there is a _snake_, it will _bite her_."

"Aren't snakes not in the vases?"

"Snakes are _everywhere,"_ Jaenelle replied dramatically.

As if on cue, Gina didn't command the protagonist to swipe his knife twice as a snake on screen lunged forward, biting him.

"I TOLD YOU TO SWIPE TWICE!" Jaenelle bounced in her seat, looking from Sharon to Megh. "See? I told you. Snakes are _everywhere_."

* * *

Mondays were the busiest days. Human Relations, Tactics and Stealth, as well as Weaponry were on Mondays. The easiest class by far was Quatre's Human Relations class, which was basically akin to a psychology or sociology class. Quatre also was a very social person and loved to hear personal experiences related to whatever he was discussing, so there was more time spent conversing than there was actually digging through the books.

Tactics and Stealth would be more fun, Gina decided, if there wasn't so much math involved, at least in the tactics portion that Heero mainly taught. Duo was mainly in charge of teaching stealth, which sometimes involved his personal stories of his days involved in espionage, which were always great to hear if Heero didn't keep time and cut him off short.

And unlike Duo, Heero's voice wasn't exactly enthralling to hear. Unless you were Jaenelle, who in spite of having the biggest crush on the planet on Heero, wasn't exactly doing well in Heero's class. She paid a bit more attention to the man than the lesson, which meant she was confused and whispering, "What're we doing?" off and on.

"...And here we have a third field." Heero used the laser pointer to highlight the section of the hologram projecting the field. "Examine. How many sights do you have?"

Next to Gina in the seat, Sharon was nodding off, ill-regardless of the fact that they were sitting in the front row. Jaenelle, snickering to herself, was sketching Sharon dozing off in her notebook, oblivious to the lesson. In other words, it was a typical class period.

Heero waited for the general response before turning to the diagram behind him and, using the pointer, starting to draw out the next manuever in a grid pattern. "With the direction of the line of sight, it's important to notice the empty parts, those could contain gunmen or bombs."

Gina glanced up at the other teachers' podium and shook her head. Even Duo was asleep.

"Keep reading chapters 18-36," Heero continued. "Now. What parts-"

The bell rang, silencing him. Sharon jerked up. Jaenelle proudly displayed her sketch of Sharon to her, causing both girls to laugh.

Heero cast a glance at Sharon and Jaenelle before continuing. "By the way, your small format papers are due next week. However, on Friday you will be working on them in class, so please bring your laptops."

"In class?" Jaenelle asked.

Heero nodded, his face set in stone. "I have something to do that day, so my portion of class will be spent on your essays, monitored by Instructor Maxwell."

Duo stretched, leaning over the podium and grinning mischievously. "He has to go shopping for his date with the Vice Foreign Minister at the big fête next week."

Everyone in the class exchanged looks with each other and commented excitedly as Heero shot Duo a look. Jaenelle paled before whispering sharply to Gina, "Did you hear that? Maybe... maybe he's dating Relena after all?"

Gina didn't reply at first, watching Heero's expressions, trying to read what he could be feeling. "He doesn't seem happy about it," she commented softly.

Jaenelle wasn't convinced as she stood up. "It doesn't matter. Okay? Let's go eat lunch and find something else to talk about."

"Yeah," Sharon agreed, following them out. "Besides... I have something really important to talk about."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20 **

All five girls were silent after Sharon said her piece.

Sharon felt kind of guilty for keeping it to herself for the last week and a half. Truth be told, she hadn't wanted to talk about it. It was directly related to the memory of... of that incident. She could still feel the blood on her face when she couldn't sleep at night.

But she'd kept them in the dark long enough.

"Where was I when this was said?" Jaenelle asked.

"Unconscious," Sharon replied.

More silence. Then Gina touched her hand to her forehead, rubbing and thinking hard. "So, they said that you and I were the real targets?"

"Yeah," Sharon nodded.

"Did you tell anyone?" Jaenelle quickly said. "Sharii, this is serious. You had better tell Heero or something because this may be a major issue in the future."

"I haven't yet," Sharon said. "I meant to," she amended, cutting Jaenelle off. "I just never found the right time. I guess I'll tell Duo, he seems the least likely to go into a massive panic or trade. I debated telling Wufei, but he's still upset over what happened with Sally Po. Then again... they have enough to worry about. I'll tell Lady Une or Noin."

"But why," Megh asked, crossing her arms, "are you two the real targets?"

"Cause we're black?" Sharon laughed harshly.

"Be serious, Sharii!" Jaenelle practically wailed. "You and Gina are in serious trouble!"

Megh looked at Steph, who so far had said nothing. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Steph breathed. "It's just... I was the first person to be taken to this time period, right? So, if the rest of us aren't targets, then why were we even taken at all?"

"Maybe you were a test subject," Jaenelle shrugged. "Maybe we all were, even though Sharii and Gina are the real targets."

"That's possible," Steph nodded.

"So, now what?" Megh asked.

Gina just stared down at her tray, unable to answer.

* * *

Looking around with a frown, Heero sighed as they approached a boutique. "I do not understand why I am needed here," he said after being silent during the car ride while she talked.

Relena looked at him, amusement void on her face. "I explained it all in the car," she said, exasperated. "Besides, it is not just dresses here, Heero. You will need something to accompany my dress, don't you think?"

Heero sighed heavily, obviously uninterested. "I am not going to pretend that I understand fashion."

"You don't have to," Relena smiled. "Besides, I can always dress you myself," she added at the end, winking.

Silent, Heero opened the door and headed in, almost as if he wanted to get away.

Following him and too aware of the fact that there still was a massive gulf between them, Relena headed inside and saw a woman slightly older than herself, pinning the bottom of a dress of another woman. "Are you the proprietor of this establishment?" she asked.

"Foreign Minister," the woman on the ground glanced up, taking pins out of her mouth and sticking them back in the pincushion laying next to her. She stood up, sending an unmasked glare into Relena and Heero's direction. "You pick a dreadful time to come see me. A weeks' notice? I have a dozen other orders to attend to, all nobles, who demand that their importance means that they get their dresses and suits done first."

Relena blinked, taken aback. "I-I beg your pardon?"

The woman snorted. "Was that too much to understand? I said, you have come at an awful time. You are best finding someone else, maybe they'll even _consider_ finding you a dress, provided they are in stock!"

"Gabrielle," the other woman said, her voice cultured and, sounding, bored. "That is a Gundam Pilot with her, you know. I'll bet he shoots faster than you can speak. Mayhap you shouldn't refuse so hastily." She turned around.

Relena sucked in her breath when she saw who it was.

She wasn't much older than herself, perhaps twenty-five. Her hair was a deep scarlet-in-shadows while her eyes were such a beautiful lavender that the flowers themselves would be jealous. Her beauty was, as it had always been since Relena had first met her, breath-taking. Even Heero noticed, Relena realized, when she noticed his stare.

"Heero Yuy," Relena managed. "This is the lady Lilith Dermail de Racine, head of the organisation known as Epyon de Telos. She is noble-born. Lilith de Racine, this is Heero Yuy of Preventer Unit Five."

Heero nodded, recognizing the political party at once. It was the political party whose "radicals" had seized the Sanq Kingdom castle, where Relena still remained in residence, on her birthday. Relena's main opposition, Epyon de Telos was for arms, and, much to Relena's displeasure, was gaining more and more support by the month.

Lilith had stated that they were radicals only. Relena hadn't believed it.

"Charmed, Heero Yuy," Lilith said, letting his name roll over her tongue. She chuckled softly, glancing at them both through her eyelashes. "The Princess of Peace and a Gundam Pilot. How star-crossed. Gabrielle, see to it that these two are fitted into the perfect evening wear."

Gabrielle flinched. "M-my lady-"

"You are under my payroll, yes? See them the moment you finish with me." Lilith smiled at Relena, and it sent shivers down the younger politician's spine. "Wonderful presentation the other week, Minister Darlian," she continued. "Soon we shall see which proves a more efficient leash on mankind: the ways of peace or the habits of humanity."

Relena said nothing.

"I look forward to seeing you at the fête," Lilith continued, turning back around to face the mirror. "As well as your bodyguard there. You cut an amazing physique, Mister Yuy. I pray that peace won't remain so quiet that your body melts away with it."

Relena remained silent as she took her seat, Heero beside her. "Is she related to the Duchess?" Heero murmured under his breath sarcastically.

Relena didn't answer. The answer was obvious.

* * *

Noin didn't look too pleased with this information. "They really said this?"

"Yes," Sharon sighed. "They did."

Noin rubbed her temples. Good god, this just got a thousand times more complicated. "Can you think of _any_ reason why on earth someone would want to literally transport you through _time _here? Anything at all?"

Sharon fought the urge to say "we're black," and instead shrugged. "No idea. I think we would've come up with something months ago though if we could've."

"Well," Noin looked apologetic. "It pains me to say it, but I'm going to have to ask you and Gina Stewart to remain on Preventers' grounds as much as possible. 24/7, in fact."

Sharon bit back a groan. She had a feeling it would come down to this. Not that she enjoyed basically being kept like a prisoner, but... what other choice would they have?

"If you absolutely need to go some place, then you will fill out a release form and one of Preventer Unit Five will escort you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Absolutely," Sharon nodded.

"We'll call a meeting on the subject soon," Noin said, standing and walking with Sharon to the door. "If anything comes up, we'll tell you. Understand?"

"Yeah," Sharon sighed.

"I'm sorry, Miss Gladden."

"It's okay," Sharon shrugged then quickly made her exit down the hallway, heading towards Wufei's office where she was supposed to be formally asking to be his teaching assistant for his after school Tai Chi class. She had no idea if the talk would go well or not, but it had been Duo's idea and Sharon already knew the form well that Wufei was supposed to teach, so why not?

Before she made it around the corner, a hand was on her shoulder.

Sharon jerked back into a defensive position then relaxed when she saw who it was. "Jae?"

Jaenelle took her arm, grinning. "C'mon!"

"Uh, what? Where the hell are you taking me?"

"You'll see."

"Oh hell no, just tell me!"

Jaenelle ignored her and Sharon sighed, allowing herself to be dragged. Whenever Jaenelle made up her mind on something, that was pretty much it. Better to ride with it.

The next thing Sharon knew, she was standing in a piano room, looking at a bunch of students and a smiling Quatre.

"Choir practise," Jaenelle grinned.

What.

"You already know the 109 Yang Form," Jaenelle pointed out. "Chang-laoshi does wushu on Mondays and today is Friday, so... you can join our club!"

"Jae, I can't sing."

Jaenelle wrinkled her nose. "You would trust my input on singing, right?"

Sharon shrugged. "Duh." Of course she did. In her early adolescence into the beginning of high school Jaenelle had been formally trained in classical singing and participated in both school and private choirs. She was a good singer, to say the least, and a hella picky one when it came to whose voice sounded good or not.

"So, I say you join us," Jaenelle grinned. "You just need practise!"

Sharon sighed, exasperated. "Look, this just isn't my thing-"

"Oh my _goddddd_," a shrilly voice sounded, causing Sharon's hair to stand on end. "Is this your friend, Sharii?"

Sharon turned to what she thought was a girl's voice but was shocked to see a boy's, and an Asian one at that. "Hiiii," the boy held out his hand.

"Sharii, this is Checkie," Jaenelle introduced, still grinning. "He was a voice major at his last college."

_And totally gay, _Sharon thought to herself, her 'gaydar' going off like fireworks on the Fourth of July in the States. She shook Checkie's hand, silently amused.

"He's an American-Born Chinese," Jaenelle finished the introduction.

"ABC!" Checkie held up both hands in peace signs. "So! You're joining us? Cool!"

Sharon opened her mouth to protest but Checkie's hands were soon on her hair. "Your hair is _soooo_ cool," he cooed. "Is it real?"

"No, it's extensions." She shot Jaenelle an _'are you seriously for real'_ look, to which Jaenelle only kept grinning. Dammit.

"I guess I might as well sit my ass down and sing then," Sharon grumbled.

"Yay!" Checkie and Jaenelle both clapped their hands. Sharon just shook her head.

"First things first," Quatre said as the students took their seats. "We'll have to arrange you all in vocal parts, so sign your name on this sheet." He lifted a piece of paper on the piano and placed a pen on top of it it. "Then I'll call out your names. The rest of you will wait outside in the hallway while you're placed. Sounds good?"

Everyone agreed and soon were up and heading towards the piano.

"Vocal parts?" Sharon asked Jaenelle as they got in line to sign up their names.

"There's generally two vocal parts for males and females," Jaenelle explained. "Tenor and bass for men and soprano and alto for females. In other words, those who sing high and those who sing lower."

"Sign me up for alto," Sharon shrugged. "I already know I can't hit no damn high notes."

"You never knowwww," Jaenelle said in a sing-song tone as she signed her name.

* * *

Sharon flopped on her bed later, thinking about the day's events.

Okay, singing had been a lot more fun than she'd thought and to her surprise she'd been sorted into soprano with Jae. But she had difficulty hitting those notes, so she wasn't really sure if this would even last-

A sharp knock at the door jerked her out of her thoughts.

Grumbling that she had to get off her ass and go answer the door, Sharon opened the door and put her hand on her hip when she saw the biggest grin on both Jaenelle _and _their new friend Checkie's faces. _Shit, _she thought. _I know that look. I'm bound for even _more _trouble._

"Guess what?" Jaenelle asked enthusiastically.

Sharon just waited, raising an eyebrow.

"So, Checkie knows a really good voice teacher," Jaenelle explained as Checkie nodded eagerly, "and he's the best voice teacher in the area."

"He's a Chinese," Checkie added. "He was my voice teacher at my last school."

"And Checkie called him and asked if he wouldn't mind more students, so we can join Checkie!" Jaenelle clasped her hands together, looking delighted.

"Where is this?" Sharon asked.

"Off-campus," Jaenelle replied.

Sharon thought about what Noin had said, her warning that if Sharon was to go off campus for any reason she had to tell someone. But would someone want to escort her to voice lessons and sit there once a week?

"I'll pass," Sharon said.

Jaenelle instantly drooped as Checkie pouted. "But-"

"For now, okay? I'll pass. I'll explain later," Sharon added, casting a quick glance at Checkie.

Jaenelle, catching the glance, instantly understood. Sharon couldn't explain now. "Okay. You can join us later."

Checkie put both hands up to his cheeks in a mock-crying motion. "We'll miss you, Shariiiii."

Sharon shook her head, bid them both goodnight and shut the door behind her. What the hell had she gotten herself into? That was definitely a question she'd been asking herself the past couple of days.

Groaning, Sharon flopped back on her bed, glanced at her laptop and debated whether or not she'd do homework or procrastinate online so she didn't have to think anymore.

Procrastination was the winner.

* * *

Quatre opened the door to the limo and glanced at Duo and his date. "You really want to do this, Duo?"

"_Someone _has to keep an eye on Hee-man," Duo shrugged. "And you'd get more distracted than I would if you went, being all important, blah blah blah. Don't worry, I'm just going in as your representative, Quatre."

Quatre glanced at his date, who was re-adjusting her hair. "I hope you just don't spend too much time dancing and socalising that you drop your guard."

"I won't, I won't," Duo winked. "We'll report after the fête. Seriously, don't worry, okay? I got this."

Quatre forced a smile. "Alright. I trust you. Good luck, okay? And... keep an eye on Lilith de Racine, if Heero isn't doing so already."

Duo gave a thumbs up before he shut the door.

Quatre stepped back and watch the limo pull away, seriously hoping they would both be alright.


	21. Chapter 21

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Yes, yes I know, three chapters in one night! Don't expect this to be a regular thing as my first HSK test is next month, but for some reason I had the urge to write tonight and I did. As always, thanks for reading and to my friends whom this is dedicated to: I hope you keep enjoying reading it as much as I keep writing. Thanks!

**Chapter 21**

Listening to the various murmurs and the distant playing of a band, Heero stood in line as each person was announced by a crier before entering the grand hall. To his dismay, Relena's arm was hooked on his. He glanced over at his reflection in the windows, not at all pleased with the outfit that had been designed to somewhat match Relena's.

Relena wore a gown of white with a high neck in a V-shape that, were Heero attracted to her, would reveal just enough cleavage to draw attention from a potential male suitor. Around her waist was a silky ribbon that tied delicately in the back. Her gown split on her left side mid-thigh, revealing the rest of her leg as she walked. Diamond earrings with a diamond on a velvet choker were the final touches to the design.

To match, Heero had been put in silk white blouse's with its own V-neck, exposing half of his well-formed chest for the world to see. His trousers were black, a bit on the tight side, and far too uncomfortable for his tastes. He would have preferred the spandex he'd worn during the war and had briefly humoured the idea of completely embarrassing his forced-date and wearing them. The sleeves, cuffed, reminded him of the uniform he wore at the institution in Sanq in the middle of the war. The final touch was a large red garnet that laid on his chest, held by a fine gold chain.

He'd never dressed in fine clothing before with the exception of a tuxedo, but this shirt with the way it was cut made him feel more like a male fashion model than a bodyguard to a politician.

Relena tightened her grip on his arm suddenly. "We're next," she whispered.

"The Vice-Foreign Minister Relena Darlian-Peacecraft and Mister Heero Yuy of Preventer Unit Five!" the crier shouted, sounding a gong.

Voices turned, murmured as they entered the room.

Heero wanted desperately to disappear. He hadn't been seen in public like this with her since...

He'd be grateful when Quatre showed up. This was a politician and noblemens' party and Quatre had been invited, so...

"Miss Relena!"

Heero turned at the sound of a familiar voice and looked relieved to see Lucrezia Noin in a nice mauve dress walking up to join them. He'd forgotten Noin's connections with Sanq Kingdom; naturally she would have been invited also. While Heero wasn't exactly a social person, having someone else to default on was a good idea, and Noin would distract Relena if asked.

"Relena," Lucrezia Noin smiled as she made her way through the room to embrace the younger woman. "It's so good to see you!" She turned to Heero and looked him up and down quickly. "And Heero Yuy! I may see you at headquarters all the time, but it's not often I see you dressed like this."

"Hn," Heero kept his face neutral. "Don't expect it to become something regular."

Noin raised an eyebrow as a footman approached with a tray of glasses of wine. "Wasn't expecting it to." She accepted a glass of wine before turning her attention back to Relena. "Word has it had Dorothy is planning a debate of sorts tonight at the dinner table."

"A debate?" Relena asked, also accepting a glass of wine. Heero declined almost immediately.

Noin sipped her glass gently. "Between you and current President Jensen."

Relena almost choked on her glass. "She can't be serious."

"And why can't I?" a too smooth voice inquired.

All three of them turned to see Dorothy Catalonia, her hand on one hip while her other twirled wine delicately. Her velvet eyes seemed to cut through Relena's gaze, amusement on her face. "Come now, Miss Relena, surely you did not expect to merely drink wine and dance, did you?"

"Perhaps I did," Relena replied a little stiffly.

"Pity," Dorothy flicked her hair back, chuckling. "I was hoping you still had a bit of fire. Has your seat gotten too comfortable? Or perhaps you've lost your touch?"

"None of these," Relena immediately stated. "It's just that there is a time for politics and a time for leisure."

"Oh, that's so easy to say," Dorothy teased, murmuring as her lips touched the rim of the glass. "For a normal person. But for the Princess of Peace in a world of bloodthirsty nobles?" She sipped her wine.

"Didn't you learn your lesson about the price of war eight years ago?" Heero bluntly asked.

"It's as my grandmother told you," Dorothy smiled, but her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "We shall see which leash humanity will take: peace or old, pesky habits."

"Your grandmother?" Noin asked.

"She mentioned she met you at the seamstress' shop," Dorothy replied. "Don't you know? Lilith Dermail de Racine was married to the late Duke Dermail. She formed Epyon de Telos after the incident with Mariemaia Khushrenada in the memory of my grandfather."

Relena thought to herself about how young Lilith de Racine must have been to marry Duke Dermail. In her teens? Had that even been legal?

"In any case, her intervening did you some good," Dorothy mused, looking Heero up and down. "You cut an interesting figure for one named after a pacifist martyr, Heero Yuy. But what less would one expect from a Gundam Pilot?"

"Ex-Gundam Pilot," Heero put in quickly.

Dorothy waved her hand dismissively. "In any case, Miss Relena, you'd better prepare your notes. Dinner shall be... interesting." She gave a mock courtesy before walking away, chuckling to herself.

"Keep an eye out on her," Noin commented softly. Heero nodded curtly in reply. Relena only stood silent, wondering just what on earth did Dorothy – and quite possibly her _grandmother – _have planned.

"Quatre Raberba Winner's representative and his date!" the crier suddenly shouted, sounding the gong.

"Representative?" Noin echoed, looking up before her jaw dropped. "Oh no. Oh no. It's Duo. And he brought..."

Heero turned around and his heart got lodged in his throat. Sure enough Duo arrived, dressed in a tuxedo with his hair done in its usual braid. But that wasn't what was causing Heero's heart to pound. Dressed in a beautiful, deep scarlet dress with her brown hair done up in curled ringlets and looking absolutely, positively stunning was Jaenelle Kelly.

He couldn't take his eyes off her.

"Hey guys!" Duo grinned as Jaenelle smiled a little awkwardly, looking from person to person. "Miss Noin. Vice-Foreign Minister. Instructor Yuy."

"Duo," Noin half-snapped, half-sighed. "What on earth are _you _doing here instead of Quatre? And bringing a _student _on a date?"

"Right now she's not a student," Duo grinned. "She's not underage, we aren't on school property and this isn't a school activity. Une said so."

Noin sputtered. "That still doesn't answer why _you're _here instead of Quatre!"

"Q-man has too much to do. I figured I'd do him a favour. And I figured I'd take Jae with me." He winked at Jaenelle, causing Heero's blood to boil.

Noticing the way Heero kept looking at this _girl_, Relena quickly turned to Heero. "Heero," she said, promptly and stiffly, hooking her arm once again on his. "Will you dance with me?"

Heero tore his gaze from Jaenelle, his eyes looking conflicted before settling back in their normal icy stare. "As you wish," he said curtly.

Duo, in the meantime, made an almost mocking bow. "Miss Jaenelle, will you do me the honour of a dance?"

Jaenelle, laughing, courtesied. "It would be my pleasure," she replied, taking Duo's hand delicately.

Noin shook her head, wanting very badly to shake them all.

Heero was glaring daggers at Duo as Relena led him away, his heart pounding sharply in his chest, demanding that this was wrong, wrong, wrong and he shouldn't allow this. Shouldn't allow this. Why was he feeling like this? Why was this making him angry? This shouldn't make him angry.

Relena stopped when they reached the dance floor, raising her arms in the appropriate position. He responded in kind, his mind whirling, his heart pounding.

Duo led Jaenelle on the floor, who was smiling from ear to ear.

Rage filled him. Heero led Relena in the dance, unaware of anything except the other couple on the dance floor. He was dancing with the wrong person. This was not who he wanted to dance with. Why did it matter that Duo was dancing with her? Why did it matter at all? It wasn't supposed to matter. This was stupid.

He saw Duo twirl his partner, saw Jaenelle go back in his arms.

Heero tightened his grip on whatever he was holding.

"Heero," Relena gasped. "You're hurting me."

Muttering a barely audible apology, Heero let go of Relena and stalked off the dance floor, leaving an appalled and embarrassed Relena all alone in the middle of a thousand nobles. She felt the eyes on her, could hear the whispers. Her date had stalked off without her. He'd actually _left._

Frantic and distressed, Relena took off after Heero, losing him as he made his way through the crowd. She kept weaving in and out, looking desperately for Heero and was about to call out his name just as she slammed into a nobleman, spilling his glass of wine onto his shirt. "I'm so sorry!" Relena gasped with horror, throwing her hands up to her face at what she'd done. This night couldn't possibly get any worse! "Please forgive me, I was not looking where I was going."

"It's alright," the man said in his Irish accent, looking down at his fine blouse. The red wine had seeped into it, leaving a deep red on what was once cream white.

"Please, let me get a napkin for you-" Relena began, but the man laughed, still looking down at his shirt. "Why, it's made a lovely pattern! Do not worry, it is not such a bad thing. It looks like an eagle, or, as my father would rather have it, a raven."

Relena blinked in surprise. He wasn't angry?

The man looked up at her and smiled. "I think it even matches the blue markings on my face."

It was a gorgeous mouth, if one could have one. His eyes were a deep brown, his hair a red-dusted blonde. Relena sucked in her breath as she looked at him, a wave of instant attraction filling her like nothing she had ever experienced, except perhaps with the man who had just abandoned her in the middle of the dance floor. But for some reason, that actually didn't matter anymore."You are?" Relena asked, breathless.

"Bran," he smiled. "Bran O'Dagda, of the territory of Ireland. And you are the Vice Foreign Minister of the World Nation, Relena Darlian-Peacecraft."

"Yes," Relena couldn't help but blush, smiling despite herself.

"It is a beautiful name, Relena is. A lovely name for its lovely occupant. It matches the lovely stain on my shirt," Bran winked.

"Oh my gosh! Bran, I am so sorry for spilling the wine on you," Relena apologised, feeling even more embarrassed. "I'll get you a new glass of wine, buy you a new shirt-"

"If you want to repay me so badly," Bran extended his hand with a smile. "You can join me in the next dance."

Relena gazed at him, her lips trembling with feelings she couldn't identify, except for one. She thought of Heero, of the way his eyes had always been so cold even to her except for once, and how even that one time, they weren't as warm as the eyes that were gazing into hers right now. "I would love to," she smiled, breathless as she took his hand. "Lead on, Bran O'Dagda."

* * *

Heero leaned on the railing of the balcony, letting the still-warm autumn air blow through his hair, the emotions within him swirling and swirling, demanding to be acknowledged, to be known. The memories, they too flooded him, drowned him.

The last time he stood on this balcony was a time when he'd escorted Relena to one of these galas. Normally she was controlled and cordial, but that one particular time was different. She was under pressure and stress constantly and that night she'd decided to let loose a little. Perhaps too much.

He remembered all too well her leaning over the railing. He was worried she was sick. He'd put his hand on her back, asking if she needed to go home, or if she was going to throw up.

Then her arm was around his neck, her lips on his, her other hand gripping at him, sliding down, grabbing his belt-

Heero shook his head, willing the memory to go away.

In truth, she hadn't gotten far. At the first real touch, he'd pushed her away, horrified. She'd gotten angry with him for rejecting her, stood up and shoved him, told him that he'd better just take it because no one else would want to deal with such a mentally fucked up man like he was.

To this day, he still wasn't sure what was worse: what she'd done, or what she'd said.

When she'd sobered and realised what she'd done, she'd explained herself. She was angry, she said, because felt she was the only person who understood him and ever would. No one else, she had continued, would have the patience to deal with him and his past like she did, and no one else would love him like she did. She said that through her he could have a normal life.

He'd taken that letter and tore it into pieces.

He didn't care if it was true or not. Yes, he had issues. Yes, he hadn't been properly socialised. And yes, he had mistaken his yearning for peace and his desire to protect peace with loving a woman. He'd loved the ideal, thought Relena had been incarnation of the ideal that would bring his dreams of living a normal life to reality. But she was a person beneath it all, not a goddess like the rest of the world – and even he- had believed. So, he'd resigned to being her friend. But she'd not gotten over her attachment, and his withdrawl had frustrated her to the point of anger. She'd never gotten over him, and now...

Now.

Now they weren't friends. Until she could get over him, he'd refuse to be her friend. He just had no idea what to do about her getting over him. That was entirely up to her.

He'd dismissed the idea of love and being involved with a woman. He'd completely dismissed it, ignored it, refused everything Duo tried. Duo had even tricked him into a few blind dates now and then, blind dates that ended with him either leaving or refusing to even answer his "date's" questions. He thought it was useless and in the back of his mind had wondered if Relena was right: that she really was the only person who would be able to handle his damned issues.

Until...

"Instructor Yuy?"

Heero turned around and felt his cold mask melt away when he saw her approach him. "Are you alright?" Jaenelle asked, looking concerned. "Instructor Maxwell told me to find you. They're going to serve dinner after this next dance."

Applause sounded in the hall as a song ended and another one began.

Heero swallowed hard. "Jaenelle."

Jaenelle tilted her head, still looking worried.

Summoning all the courage he had, Heero lifted a hand, feeling his voice grow husky and soft. "Will... you join me in this dance?"

* * *

"Interesting," Dorothy mused as she approached Relena.

"Hm?" Relena asked, turning from her conversation.

Dorothy laughed, jerking her head towards the dance floor. "Is he not in love with her, do you think?"

Relena turned and stared as Heero escorted that _girl _on the dance floor. Her heart pounded sharply in her chest. She couldn't believe it.

People watched as the normally cold Perfect Soldier took his student on the dance floor. His eyes were warm, a smile on his face as he danced the waltz with this girl who was neither politician nor noble, just a normal girl like anyone who would be on the street. Her movements weren't as fluid as any of the other women, and it was obvious she'd never had a ballroom dancing class in her life, but none of that was as interesting, or as moving, as the way the two of them looked at each other.

"Looks like the feeling is mutual," Dorothy chuckled. "She gazes at him as if he's the only man on Earth. Seems you've lost your knight, princess. This will certainly make headlines in the morning."

Laughing, Dorothy walked away.

Relena looked down at the ground, her heart aching with pain. Had all these years been for _nothing?_ Just nothing? She'd loved Heero since she found him on the beach eight years ago, had worked so hard to understand him, to know him. She'd been angry and said things she didn't mean, had never been forgiven for a mistake that any human being would make and now...

"Vice-Foreign Minister?" a voice asked.

Relena turned to look over her shoulder as a smiling Bran O'Dagda approached. "They can't be the only couple on the dance floor," he murmured softly, extending his hand.

Relena stared at the offered hand, felt her heartbeat change from a sharp pain to a flutter of excitement as her cheeks heated and she felt her eyes rest on the gaze of a warm man. "No," she replied, returning his smile and taking his hand. "They can't."

As Relena and Bran O'Dagda entered the dance floor, Lilith de Racine approached Dorothy Catalonia. "It seems that Relena Darlian-Peacecraft won't be the one we'll need after all," she commented.

Dorothy looked at her step-grandmother quizzically. "You have something up your sleeve, don't you?"

"Perhaps," Lilith only smiled. "Or perhaps I'm only a messenger. Perhaps I'm a pawn on this board of chess or perhaps I am the queen. But it doesn't matter, does it?"

Dorothy didn't answer, merely crossed her arms.

Lilith raised the wine glass and gazed at Heero Yuy and Jaenelle Kelly through the glass and murmured, "_Solet ed,_" before she tipped it back, laughing, and drank.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

"What," Lady Une demanded angrily, practically fuming with anger, "were you two _thinking?!"_

Heero and Duo stood in Une's office with only the desk separating them from a very angry woman. Duo laughed a bit nervously. Heero, as expected, kept his face coldly neutral.

"Duo," Une fumed, pacing. "Am I to _understand _that you _exaggerated _what I said and took a _student _to a public gala as your _date?"_

Duo shrugged, smiling a little uneasily. "You already know, Lady. You've got a copy of the Sunday paper on your desk."

Turning sharply from where she'd been pacing, Une slammed both hands down on the paper, causing Duo to wince. "Not only _that_," she practically snarled, turning to the other man, "but now it looks as if _you_, Heero, are _involved_ with Jaenelle Kelly!"

Indeed it did. The headline read: _Vice-Foreign Minister Darlian Finds Comfort in Irish Representative; Former Boyfriend Dances with Student After Rejection._

"What do you have to say for yourself, Heero?" Une snapped, raising the paper in the air and pointing to the picture of Heero dancing. After a few minutes of silence, Une threw her hands in the air, exasperated. "Do you want to lose your job _that _badly?"

Heero still said nothing, not a single emotion on his face.

Frustrated and feeling tired, Une lowered the paper to the desk. Taking a deep breath she announced, "Yuy, I'm removing Jaenelle Kelly from your classes."

Shock and hurt flashed on Heero's face, the only emotion he'd shown this entire time. Duo bristled. "Hey, c'mon-"

"You leave me no choice!" Une snapped. "I am separating you two. I will not have everything we have worked so hard to build fall to ruin because of a scandal. Has it not occurred to you how the public works? How this _looks?"_

"At least Relena will get sympathy votes," Duo muttered.

"_That isn't the point." _Une turned her gaze back to Heero. "She's gone from your classes. If I see you even _talking_ to her, I will expel her. Understand?" Before Heero or Duo could protest, she raised a hand. "I don't care that she has nowhere to go. We have allowed her and her friends to stay here and take classes for free on our good graces and if these good graces are to be shattered because of your carelessness?"Une shook her head. "You are to go _nowhere_ near Jaenelle Kelly, on campus or off, and she is to go nowhere near you. Do I make myself understood, Heero?"

"Clearly," Heero replied a little too quietly, his eyes frozen into hard sapphire stones.

"Now go on," Une turned around. "I have a press meeting today. Heero, you'd better prepare a formal apology-"

"I refuse."

Une turned around, shocked. "What?"

Heero frowned deeply, tight-lipped. "I am not apologising for my actions. The best apology you will get from me is obeying your _orders_. I will do no more than that."

Then Heero turned and left the room swiftly, the air stinging with his anger.

Duo shook his head. "You went too far, Lady," he commented darkly.

"And what else was I supposed to do?" Une snapped.

"Leave them alone?" Duo suggested. "Yeah, we're not supposed to date students. Too bad it wasn't a date. All Heero did was fucking dance with her. I danced with her too; the only reason this is a big deal is because he left Relena in the middle of a dance and then danced a full dance with Jaenelle. The press took it too far. So what? It's not like he kissed her or anything. You're too busy pleasing the public that you've forgotten what we're all about or why we even started a peace-watch to begin with!"

"Do tell then," Une snapped. "Why _did _we start a peace-watch?"

"Happiness," Duo replied flatly, softly. "So we could have the right to happiness without living in fear. In doing this to Heero, is it really any different?"

"How on earth-"

"Peace," Duo mockingly saluted Une before he stormed out of her office.

Une stared after Duo, not at all understanding what he said. Didn't he understand that if the public lost faith in them that there would be no more funding? That the school would have to be shut down? They couldn't afford that, they just couldn't.

So, Jaenelle and Heero had to be separated. They just had to be.

"Dammit, Heero," Une sighed as she sat down, gazing once more at the newspaper on her desk. "You picked a bad time to be pulling this."

* * *

Gina flipped through the student handbook and sighed, looking at the group of friends that had assembled in the lobby of the dorm. "You can't graduate," she said flat out.

Jaenelle wailed, burying her head in Steph's shoulder. "You must be kidding."

"Yeah, and if you don't take this Weaponry class – which isn't offered second semester and has no other instructor – you can't graduate next spring for the one year programme," Sharon sighed. The one-year programme, which had been one of the newer features along with the new elective classes, was pretty much their only hope of graduating with enough of a degree to have a future in this world.

"So what do I do?" Jaenelle asked through tears.

"Talk to Une," Steph said, hugging her friend tight. "Explain that Heero's class is mandatory. Maybe she'll arrange something."

"I doubt it," Jaenelle sniffed. "The way she yelled at me... I just _danced_ with him! I didn't even dance _well. _It's not like he _likes _me or something..."

The entire group exchanged a look before Sharon took a pillow and whacked Jaenelle upside the head with it. "Stop that bullshit!" Sharon snapped, grabbing the newspaper from the coffee table. "Look. At. This. Picture. Now, say that again."

Jaenelle shook her head, tears falling.

Gina made a face and patted Jaenelle's arm. "Jae, we'll think of something. Maybe you could leave the school somehow and do something else."

"My high school education is worthless here," Jaenelle pointed out. "The school doesn't even _exist _anymore. I couldn't even get a job at a fast food restaurant."

"You could offer yourself as a bride on the internet?" Megh joked.

"Heero would win that auction _so_ fast," Steph grinned.

"No, he wouldn't," Jaenelle shook her head.

Sharon rolled her eyes and hit Jaenelle with the pillow again.

The sound of someone clearing their throat caused them all to turn and look. "Chang-laoshi," Sharon blinked.

Wufei crossed his arms, looking at Jaenelle. "You seemed to have upset the entire school, Miss Kelly."

"I-I'm sorry," Jaenelle whispered, looking down.

"I have a solution for your graduation problem," Wufei offered. He held up a pamphlet and offered it to Jaenelle.

"The University of Dalong?" Jaenelle read aloud.

"I got my second Ph.D through them," Wufei said, ignoring the jaws dropping of the girls he was speaking through. "I wrote and completed my thesis here and they approved it. They've been asking me for students. They're located on L5 in the colonies. However," Wufei's eyes narrowed. "You are not ready, not now. All of those classes are taught in Chinese with no English. Therefore, if you are willing, you may independently study with me for the remainder of the academic year. When it's finished, you can go there. And you will still be considered a student of the Preventers Organisation until then," he added quickly.

Jaenelle looked down, thoughtful.

"It is an option and one I highly recommend. You cannot graduate now without the classes that Yuy teaches, even if you were to major in the interpretation programme. You have to take what you can get and you would be happy there, probably happier than here." Wufei's eyes softened a little. "Consider it, Miss Kelly. You could be a greater success there than here. You've confessed often enough that you're better suited to the life of a professor anyway."

Jaenelle only nodded.

"Tell me your answer tomorrow," Wufei said, turning and walking away.

After a few minutes of silence, Steph nudged Jaenelle gently. "You okay?"

Jaenelle took a deep breath. "I... don't really have any other choices, do I?"

Everyone exchanged looks.

Jaenelle gave a shaky, sad smile. "Guess I'm going to university next year."

* * *

He hadn't turned around to look at him the entire time. He had stared out the window, refusing to speak, refusing to even acknowledge that he was in the room. Wufei let out a large sigh. "It's the best choice for her, Yuy."

Heero didn't reply.

"There's no other choice."

Heero still didn't reply.

Shaking his head, Wufei left the room.

When the door shut behind his colleague, Heero turned his head to look at the pamphlet on his desk that belonged to a university so far away, not even on the planet, not even close to the colonies he'd come from. He thought about how he wasn't allowed to even talk to her and the moment he'd get the chance she'd leave, she'd be gone.

It was so hard to breathe.

Heavens above, it was so hard to breathe.

Why was it so hard to breathe?

* * *

"Do you think he likes men?"

Sharon snapped out of her daydream, mentally returning to the lunchroom. "Wha'd you say?"

Checkie clasped his hands together delicately, sighing in a dramatic fashion. "Instructor Maxwell. He's _so _handsome! Do you think he likes men?"

"Um," Sharon cast a glance at Gina and the others before shrugging. "I... don't exactly think about these things?"

"Hmph," Checkie pouted before a devilish grin formed on his face. "You know something?"

"Hm?" Sharon asked as Jaenelle started to take a bite of her cheeseburger.

"I'll bet he has a big cock."

Jaenelle started choking. Sharon's palm immediately hit her face. Steph set down her drink, plugging her nose as she died of laughter. Megh just cackled while Gina sighed.

"What? You don't believe me? Hmph!" Checkie closed his eyes and turned his hand. "I'll bet he's _fierce."_

"E-Excuse me?" Jaenelle asked, her eyes tear-bright.

"Fierce." Checkie looked proud of himself. "I watch TV, you know. To practise my English. And I was watching my favourite show and one of the judges said that?"

"Judges?" Megh inquired.

"Yeah! On the show!"

"What show, can I ask, was this?" Megh asked, raising an eyebrow.

"_Earth's_ _Next Runway Model!"_

All five girls burst out laughing.

"What? What's wrong with it? Oh, you're all so _mean!"_ Checkie pouted again before looking at Steph's tray, eying her apple. "Hey, are you going to eat that?" Before Steph even had the chance to respond, Checkie snatched the apple and took a big bite.

Steph's arms were in the air as she shook her head. "Sure, I guess," she sighed. "You can have it."

"Oh, thank you!" Checkie giggled.

"You didn't even wait for her to approve before you ate it," Megh pointed out. "Are you sure you're from America?"

"Huh?" Checkie blinked.

"That kind of thing is rude in America," Jaenelle explained, then paused. "At least, the America _we're_ from."

"Of course I am!" Checkie set down the apple dramatically. "But!"

"But?"

"I'm a Chinese." He picked back up the apple, then waved his hand in a _very_ feminine action that had all the girls staring. "Okay, okay, I may be an ABC, but my family moved to L5 when I was really young, right? So, I lived with Chinese all my life until I went to university and now here!"

"Why are you at this school anyway?" Jaenelle asked. "You... don't seem to be the tough type that would want to be a field agent."

"I don't!" Checkie whined. "I don't, I don't, I don't. But you know? My mom made me come here."

"Why?" the girls blinked.

Checkie looked sheepish and deepened his voice. "She wants me to be more _manly."_

"Oh good god," Jaenelle sighed. Sharon just shook her head. "Checkie, I think no matter what you will be more of a girl than any of us."

"Oh, thank you!" Checkie smiled. "Thank you, thank you!"

"Is that a compliment?" Megh muttered.

* * *

Quatre stared out the window, watching students run the track.

He was trying hard not to feel responsible for what had happened Friday night. If he hadn't let Duo go, then none of this would've happened. None of it. He couldn't stand watching the already cold mask that Heero wore turn into what felt like an impenetrable block of ice. And until this died down, there was no reasoning with Une either.

He shut his eyes, thinking about the past eight years. The war, the beginning of peace, the Mariemaia Incident, the forming of the Preventers. During that time, he'd found his own measure of happiness in the form of his students, his job, and – he blushed – the arms of his lover.

Wasn't everyone allowed this? This kind of happiness?

Before he was allowed to think anymore, the door burst open and Trowa suddenly appeared. "Quatre," he snapped in his light tenor. "A representative from the senate has just showed up. They told me to tell you that the Duchess Dorothy Catalonia has been charged with treason."

Quatre turned fully, rushing around the desk. "You're kidding!"

Trowa nodded. "You'd better get to the meeting room. Everyone's gathered there, including the senator and the Vice Foreign Minister. It's urgent."

* * *

The moment Quatre shut the door behind him the meeting began.

"How is this possible?" Wufei demanded.

"Letters from the Duchess to a man named Victor VanDryke of the L4 Colony Cluster," the senator spoke, turning his attention to Relena. "He's the one who sent the renegades of Epyon de Telos to your birthday party in AC 197, Minister! They were talking of sending illegal arms to a few men of De Telos, who were talking of breaking apart from the organization to assassinate you."

Relena stared down at the table, silent.

"So why," Trowa asked, "is this coming up now, so many years later?"

"Because Lilith de Racine has decided to turn in her step-granddaughter," the senator answered.

A low hush filled the room.

"I don't like it," Heero said flatly. "She's choosing now to reveal this. Hn. Surely she'd known this before."

"Agreed," Wufei nodded. "It seems like a set-up."

The senator shook his head. "De Racine's been researching the incident ever since it happened, to prove that she wasn't lying when she said that they were radicals and not truly her organisation. She claimed she never suspected her granddaughter until recently and now she's finally produced evidence to prove her case." The senator's face changed, showing clear relief. "Makes me glad… that woman is scary, I think. Beautiful, but scary. I'd hate to imagine if she were really the enemy."

Heero and the other pilots exchanged a look.

"Not convinced," Duo commented. "I'm really not."

"I'm actually in agreeance with Duo," Heero said, looking the senator dead in the eye. "It's too perfect."

"Unfortunately," the senator spread his hands. "The only way to find out one way or another is the trial. Dorothy Catalonia's estate and titles in the meantime are frozen and her testimony is Friday."

"Then we have no choice but to wait," Une finally spoke up.

"I'm afraid not," the senator sighed. "No choice at all."

Quatre looked at all the faces in the room and shut his eyes, taking everything in. This was likely going to be a long, long week.


	23. Chapter 23

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **First of all, I want to thank the people who actually put this story on their alert or save it to their favourites; it honestly is a very big honour and I'm very surprised whenever it happens, so thank you all so very much for the lovely compliments. We have officially hit the half-way point with my fic plot-wise.

Secondly, I will be working on (eventually) character sketches of all five girls so you have some idea of what they look like. They'll be posted in my DeviantART when I do... whenever I get around to it, probably sometime this summer.

A final note before I continue the story: yes indeed, the character Checkie is based off my Chinese friend IRL, and yes he is _that_ flamboyant and girly... all the time. Sharii actually told him he was in a story I was writing and he whined that he wanted to read it. Since he doesn't know Gundam Wing, I doubt he'd get it. :P Mayhap I'll let him read it someday. Mayhap. :)

**Chapter 23**

It was mainly the former representatives of Romefeller, now named the League of European Nations, who were attending the trial. As a Preventer and politician, Quatre was not supposed to truly be feeling anything for the possibly soon-to-be-condemned Duchess. But as he touched the scar on his belly through his blouse, he couldn't help but remember his first encounter with Dorothy Catalonia. After that he had cared for her, deeply, as a friend. If Trowa had not come to him so often during the war, he maybe would have asked for Dorothy to be his girlfriend, or, ideally, his lover or wife someday. He would never know.

But now looking at her, he almost wished he had. If he had known it was to come to this, he would have. To protect her from herself, to help her find goodness within...

Sensing his lover's discomfort, Trowa placed his hand in Quatre's and squeezed it gently, a silent reminder that he was there. Quatre squeezed back harder and whispered, "Thank you, Trowa."

Trowa nodded, giving him a silent smile.

Excluding Zechs and Wufei, all of Preventer Five and Preventer Elemental were in attendance today as requested by President Jenson. They were not allowed to vote in the trial, but they were to stand watch and ensure the peace. That was, the president had reminded them, their job after all.

The doors opened and the procession began. Dorothy was the first to enter the room flanked by two guards, the jury of nobles that would stand trial – Quatre immediately worried about the fairness of this seeing who the jury would be – followed by the Vice Foreign Minister, President Jenson, and finally the woman who condemned her, Lilith de Racine.

After a few moments of murmurs, the president assumed the podium. "How do you plead to these charges, Dorothy Catalonia, Duchess of Dermail?" President Jenson demanded, reading her title off a sheet of paper.

Dorothy may have been on trial, but she had not lost an ounce of her pride. "I am fully innocent, sir, of these charges you've placed on my head." Her gaze was firm, her voice steady, and Quatre couldn't help but feel proud of her as she continued. "What gain would I possibly grasp from this? Weapons to Epyon de Telos' radicals? There is no personal profit from this."

"Everything except the heart of one Victor Van Streak?"

Dorothy huffed, flicking her hair. "Van Streak is a man who at that point was in his sixties, not to my romantic tastes at all, and is the author of a series of children's _story books_. If he is a member of Epyon de Telos, I did not know it when I sent a letter of admiration after buying a book that turned out to be Mariemaia Barton's- you all know her as Khushrenada- new favorite series. I sent it to her during her birthday. You are knowledgeable of Miss Barton. I doubt after her escapade two years prior to the writing of that letter that she would be interested in reading the books of a man who apparently is for starting a new war!"

"She's lying, I'm sure," Lilith de Racine yawned from her chair. "She's had _years_ to think of a story to cover up what happened. Mariemaia Khushrenada is an easy name to pick out."

Dorothy rounded on Lilith, her eyes blazing. "If you seek to blame me for my supposed crimes, _grandmother_, then maybe everyone in here should consider about where I got my wits from!"

Lilith leaned forward and smiled coldly. "Ah, but Dorothy, I am not Duke Dermail, nor am I a war-obsessed _adolescent_."

Murmurs rose between those in the room at Lilith's last comment.

"You married him," Dorothy whispered.

Lilith's smile only grew colder. "Profit," she mused.

The president slammed his fist onto the podium. "Enough! Lady de Racine, while it is a pleasure to have you in attendance, I must ask you to refrain from comment unless you have been granted permission to speak."

"Of course, Mister President," Lilith chuckled.

Huffing, the President turned to the room. "Resume the meeting," he said, looking tired.

The next half hour of discussion seemed to last years to Quatre. Finally, it was time for the voting.

"Execution," one of the nobles, an elderly woman, spoke up.

Dorothy's jaw dropped. Quatre's fists clenched in his lap.

"Execution," another agreed.

"Execution."

"Execution."

The final vote came to Relena. Her face void of any color, the Vice Foreign Minister swallowed. She looked from Dorothy to the president, the president to Lilith, and lastly, a glance at Heero Yuy before turning her attention forward. "Not death," she finally said. "Imprisonment."

Instantly, the people began to whisper amongst themselves.

"Vice Foreign Minister," President Jensen said, looking at Relena seriously. "You have halted an otherwise unanimous vote. Could you give your reasoning?"

Dorothy's gaze towards Relena was desperate, yearning.

Relena sat upright in her chair. "The Duchess Catalonia may not have done this, and she may have done so. Either way, this is supposed to be an era where we try for peace. Will taking the Duchess' life truly help?" Relena shook her head, looking around the room. "We here, except for Lady de Racine, have and are voting for the ban of weapons. Executing someone because of this claim that there were weapons brought in… it will bring nothing but talk of more violence. To kill her because of weapons involves using the very thing we wish to ban. We can't solve this by taking her life. Imprisonment is truly the best solution." Relena closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Though we are no longer guided and advised by my father, the late King Peacecraft, if we forget his ideals, we forget what it means not only to be a member of this council, but the policies that we have all regretted to have forgotten in the past."

The nobles immediately began to talk amongst themselves. Finally, the senator who had come to the Preventer headquarters earlier that week stood up. "The Vice Foreign Minister is right," he said. "We must become better than our urge to strike down whoever opposes the way we think. That is how wars start to begin with."

Relena looked relieved.

The President nodded. "Are we in agreement?" When no one protested, he nodded. "So be it. Dorothy Catalonia, for the course of a single year you are placed under house arrest unless further investigation of your offenses proves otherwise. Your estates and duties shall be taken care of by the family seneschal while you dwell there. Any guests you may receive must be approved beforehand by this council. Is it understood?"

Dorothy nodded. "It is."

"Case dismissed."

As Relena stood up, Lilith de Racine crossed the room to her, smiling in a way that it seemed the air chilled with suspense. "I had a feeling it would be interesting, crossing wits and viewpoints with one such as you," she mused, chuckling.

"Lady de Racine," Relena replied stiffly.

Lilith's smile deepened as her chuckle grew. "So young, and yet playing the game of politics. You ought to be careful you don't end up with a similar fate of your father."

Relena's mouth opened and clamped shut.

"You thought..." Lilith laughed out loud, raising a hand delicately to her mouth. "Oh no, my dear. Oh no. I would not bother with the thought of threatening _you. _After all, without you..." She merely smiled, lightly placing her hand on the younger woman's shoulder. It caused Relena to shudder.

"We'll meet again, Princess of Peace," Lilith crooned. "You may count on it."

Withdrawing her hand and gazing at Relena from her eyelashes, Lilith de Racine left the room, smiling to herself as if she had some kind of secret knowledge that gave her all the riches in the world.

"Relena," a voice said.

Jerking, Relena turned to look at Quatre, something falling from her shoulder. Quatre bent over to pick it up, frowning as he read what had been written on the top. "Her business card? 'Hold me to the mirror and see.' Hm." Glancing at Relena's face, Quatre's features softened. "I can hold onto this instead, if you like."

"Do that," Relena quickly said. "I... should go talk to the president." She excused herself quickly and left.

Puzzled, Quatre slid the card in his pocket, wondering what kind of cryptic message that Lilith had left for Relena, and what this could possibly mean for the rest of them, if anything at all.

* * *

The door slammed in her face as she was shoved against the wall, the picture thrust before her eyes. The faucet ran in the background as the door to the bathroom shut and locked.

"Explain this!" a shrill voice demanded.

Jaenelle sucked in her breath as she looked at the three girls who had surrounded her. She knew who they were, they had been in Heero's Weaponry class and had giggled every time Heero had asked one of them a question, as well as hounded him after class to ask him annoying and unimportant questions. They were also eighteen years old, and if she didn't believe there was a major maturity difference between twenty-two and eighteen, she believed there was now.

"It's as the headmaster herself has said," Jaenelle swallowed, trying and failing to make her voice sound even. She could feel the tears forming due to the violence, the anger. She hated this part of her. Whenever she got angry, got truly angry, she would cry. It never did anything except make the person who was pushing her laugh and call her weak. These girls were no exception.

"You're a fucking liar," one of the girls, her name was Lindsey, snapped. "You want him, don't you?"

Jaenelle shut her eyes and shook her head, wishing for it to go way, please, _someone _make it go away! "It's none of your damn-"

"You _want _him, don't you?!" another girl, Casey, demanded as she grabbed the newspaper from Roxanne and slapped Jaenelle across the face with it.

"Please, just stop!"

Casey bore her teeth and hit Jaenelle across the face with the newspaper again. And again. "Admit it, you fucking slut!" the last girl, Roxanne, practically screamed. "Just fucking admit it already!"

Jaenelle shoved herself from the wall and tried to break through them, but it was no use. Two of the girls grabbed her, pulled her back towards the sink where she had been simply trying to wash her hands. Casey thrust her hand in the sink, plugging up the drain and then stood back. "It only takes two inches of water to drown someone," she sneered.

Jaenelle stared, wide-eyed. "You aren't serious."

"Oh, I fucking am." Casey crossed her arms.

Jaenelle's thoughts suddenly moved to the numerous news reports of violence in high schools, especially done by girls. Girls were vicious when jealous. She recalled a story of two girls fighting over one guy. The guy had played them and instead of being angry with the guy, they got angry with each other. One of the girls even went so far as to hook locks from the lockers and punch the other girl in the face. They even drew blood.

Until now, she'd never known just how far jealously could take people.

Until now, she has no idea how petty people could be.

Lindsey grabbed Jaenelle by the hair and pushed her down. The edge of the sink hit her chest hard as the cool water suddenly surrounded her face. The hand on her head pushed down hard and she felt the drain on her forehead.

"ADMIT IT!" Roxanne's voice was filling her ears with her high-pitched shrieks of rage. "ADMIT IT!"

_Don't scream, _Jaenelle willed herself. _Don't. You need all the oxygen you can get! Don't struggle, if you don't, maybe they'll stop..._

Lindsey jerked her knee up, hitting Jaenelle square in the stomach. Precious, precious air gasped out of her, exploded in bubbles around her face. Another jerk of the knee, more bubbles exploded.

_Gods above, why..._

"Admit it!" a voice taunted, but Jaenelle couldn't tell anymore whose voice it was. "Admit it, you slut! You tried to seduce him! He's ours! He's not anyone else's! We were always there and you fucking showed up!"

"You filthy whore!"

"Who the fuck told you that you could go anywhere _near _him?!"

Memories filled Jaenelle's mind, memories of her time since she first arrived in this time, this place. First she'd been shot by someone, then she'd gotten drugged. Both times she ended up in the hospital. Now she was likely to die, drowned in some random sink in some random bathroom at a school some place, all because she'd danced with Heero Yuy, who a mere half a year ago she didn't even know was real. _God damn, _she thought as the hand shoved harder, as more kicks landed on her body, each time more painful than the last. _I am so fucking tired of being the damn victim!_

More memories filled her, left her heart aching. A face swam in her vision; an awkward smile, warm brown eyes with a sadness behind them she couldn't properly place. Her first love...

_Why am I not in Shanghai now, trying to show you what love is? Why am I not keeping my promise? Why am I here? I have no reason to be..._

Her mind felt fatigued, fuzzy. The water seemed to surround her, swallow her.

_No reason at all..._

But then that face faded and there was another one with blue eyes and brown hair, offering his hand and asking her to dance.

It was just a dance. Just a dance she'd enjoyed, a dance where she'd realised the truth as she'd moved with him on that floor, had gazed into his eyes. She'd been in love with him the entire time and felt guilty about it, guilty because of her first love whom she hadn't quite forgotten either, but had said goodbye to. Had said goodbye.

Why was she being punished now for yet another one-sided affair, an unrequited thing? Hadn't they realised who was in question? It was _Heero Yuy_. This wasn't a fanfic or a dream or anything of the sort. This was the _real _Heero Yuy, and the idea that _she _of all people _seduced_ him or _anything_ like that was absurd! Couldn't they see that? Couldn't they stop and see?

_...please..._

Her head was yanked out of the water. There was a tough grip on her hair. Had been a tough grip on her head.

"Admit it! Admit you want him!"

_That I... want him?_

He'd offered his hand and she'd taken it.

"...Yes..."

That was when her head was suddenly again under water.

That was when everything faded.

* * *

Gina was frustrated that the door wouldn't open. This was the _only_ bathroom in this sector of the school, why the hell wasn't the door opening?

She was about to pound on the door when she heard a voice scream, _"Admit it! Admit you want him!" _just before more loud noises and bangs sounded, screams of anger.

Panic flooded through Gina's system. The door was locked because someone inside was getting hurt! Oh god, oh what should she do? She could feel her whole body start to shake, her heart pound as nervousness and fear for whoever was inside took over. She started to yank harder on the doorknob, bang on it.

"Miss Stewart?"

Chang Wufei strode towards Gina, a worried look on his face. "Have you seen Miss Kelly? She was supposed to be taking a bathroom break but hasn't returned for a good fifteen minutes..."

Gina paled. She knew exactly who was in there now.

"Instructor Chang, the door is locked and Jae's inside!" she quickly pleaded. "And I think she'd getting beaten up!"

Cursing in fluid Mandarin, Wufei motioned for Gina to step back. The lock on the door proved to be no match for the trained martial artist and the door opened after two kicks, swinging back and now quite useless. Gina silently admired Wufei's tact and efficiency as she followed him into the bathroom, where the girls had gathered in a circle, trying to pretend that Jae's body wasn't there.

"T-this is a _girl's _bathroom!" one of them stammered.

Wufei, Gina suspected, had the largest bullshit detector on the planet. _"Move," _he snarled.

None of the girls moved.

No longer supported by anyone's grip, Jaenelle's body slumped to the floor, shocking an already horrified Gina, who, upon seeing the all-too-peaceful look on her friend's face, turned her head to look at the girls in rage. _"You. Hurt. Jae."_

Wufei turned around instantly, remembering Gina's fury and what she was capable of a little too late. Moving faster than he would've credited the short and stocky girl for, Gina lunged forward at the girls, howling in an almost inhuman manner. Silently grateful that she didn't have a lunch tray, Wufei grabbed Gina's arm and shouted, "NO! No! Miss Stewart, _attend! Stand at attention! NOW!"_

Gina shook her head, tears in her eyes. "They hurt Jae!" she wailed.

"She deserved it!" one of the girls spat. "She seduced Instructor Yuy, the whore!"

_That _did it. Gina lunged for the girl, intending on quite literally ripping off her face but was to her dismay caught in a grip by Wufei that she couldn't get out of, damn him! "Miss Stewart, attend Miss Kelly-"

Who, at the moment, coughed up water and bile and continued coughing, no longer unconscious but definitely not fully aware either.

"JAE!" Finally released from Wufei's grip, Gina ran to Jaenelle's side. Before anyone could speak or do anything, Gina lifted her friend from the ground and shot them all defensive and borderline feral glares. "You leave Jae alone," she demanded in an all too quiet whisper. "Leave her alone."

Wufei took a step forward. "Miss Stewart-"

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Gina's eyes were wide with panic and rage.

Shaking his head, Wufei stepped aside and allowed Gina to leave, carrying her hardly conscious friend down the hallway, who was blabbering something about swim practise for god knows why.

"You three," Wufei snapped in a deadly calm as he turned to face them. "You three are not only going to be expelled from school, but charged with attempted murder."

"_What?!" _all three of them shrieked.

The student Lindsey shook her head. "We weren't _really _trying to kill her-"

"Fools!" Wufei slammed his fist against the wall. "Did it not occur to you half-brained dimwits that burying someone's face in water and beating the shit out of them while they were _drowning_ would be considered attempted murder? No?"

"It's not like she fought back," Lindsey shrugged.

Wufei resisted both the urges to backhand the girl and strangle her. Instead, he picked up his cell phone and dialed Trowa "Where are you?" he demanded.

*Docking, * came the reply. *We're entering the grounds now and will recap the trial in a half hour. *

"Tell Une that she's going to have three students in her office as well as I waiting for her, and _no _it can't wait until later," he said crisply, then paused. "And don't tell 01."

*Roger, * Trowa replied.

As Wufei hung up the phone, one of the girls whispered, "Will we go to jail?"

"If I have it my way," Wufei said a little too calmly, "You'll rot there."

* * *

Megh brushed the hair of the dog she'd been training with for the past week, lost in thought. Jae, to her great relief, was fine. No hospital visit was necessary ("This time," Jaenelle had grumbled) and the ordeal was going to be taken care of quietly. Still, it didn't erase how disturbing the day's events had been.

Megh stopped brushing. The dog, having enjoyed the attention, nuzzled her gently before pawing her, wanting her to continue.

Smiling a little sadly, Megh continued brushing, enjoying the feel of the animal's fur, the silent comfort she got simply in being in the dog's prescence. She'd always preferred the company of animals to humans. Around other humans, everyone had a mask, she thought. There's always some kind of expectation there to be something, to do a certain thing in life a certain way otherwise you were doing it wrong. But with animals, it was simple. There were no requirements other than love and just being yourself. Wasn't that the way the world was supposed to be?

"Why is the world full of stupid bitches?" Megh asked her pawed friend. "Why can't people grow a brain or something?"

The dog merely wagged its tail and sat down, raising a paw.

Suddenly filled with sadness, Megh pulled the dog into a hug. Really, why _was_ the world filled with people like that? She'd remembered a night where they'd all stayed up talking and Sharon had commented that she was half-surprised and half-not to see that in two hundred years of technological development and advancement of humanity as a whole into outer space that people were still ridiculous. Then Jaenelle, victim of today's events, had voiced that in spite of this and how much it also pissed her off, she truly believed in humanity and still believed in trying to help.

Would Jaenelle still think that way later? Probably. Her friend was too compassionate and relentless not to. Megh wasn't sure she could do that, and it made her feel inadequate. She felt that a lot lately.

The dog in her arms squirmed, sat back and offered its paw again.

"You want a treat, don't you?" Megh genuinely smiled and took the dog's paw before tossing it a treat. Yes. Here was less complicated than dealing with people. Here she didn't feel inadequate or like she had to measure up to anything or deal with any of that petty bullshit. Here she could just _be._ And she knew, deep in her heart, that was the way things were supposed to be.

Maybe, in spite of how fucked up everything was all things considered, this life here was good for her after all. Even if it wasn't good for everyone else at the moment.

* * *

*...went well today, it seems. But not perfect, * the man's voice commented, his face still in shadow on the communications screen.

"No, not quite," Lilith smoothed back her hair, smiling gently. She cared very little for his judgment at the moment. It wasn't interfering with his plans if her bitch of a step-granddaughter was alive or not. "Still, it's enough. It's almost certain that Peacecraft will with the election now."

*Do you hate losing to her ideals? *

Lilith chuckled to herself. "Is it not our objective that she win? Let her. It'll make our job _so _much easier, will it not? The election is a mere three weeks away, and her words have once again left the public drunk on her pretty words. They'll be groping for more once she's comfy in her seat."

The man was silent for a moment before he spoke. *Keep your eye on the Preventers. They don't suspect you, do they? *

Leaning on her hands, Lilith purred, "Perhaps they do, but not because they're onto anything."

*The time isn't right for them to know. *

"No," she mused, licking her lips. "Not yet."

*You're looking a little too forward to the time when they catch onto us. *

Laughing, she sat back in her chair, gazing through her lashes at the man on the screen. "Haven't you yet realised that the final battle is the most interesting one? And the final stage is almost ready to be set."

*Don't goad them, De Racine. Fade into the background for a little while longer as it becomes winter. When it's spring... *

She smiled her cold, cruel smile. "That's the perfect time for blooming."


	24. Chapter 24

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **If what happens in this chapter is considered scientifically impossible... ignore it.

**Chapter 24**

"...but I don't _wanna_ go to class!" Sharon whined dramatically as she noticed the time on the clock in her dorm room. It was 7:30, which meant they had forty-five minutes left until class started. When she'd found out how early class was going to start she'd almost boycotted class... until she realised she'd literally have no future without it. Then she sucked it up and dealt.

Gina looked up from her laptop and shrugged. "Me neither. But we have only three weeks until midterms, so we should go."

"Man," Sharon sighed. "I'd be almost jealous of Jae who doesn't have to do any of this shit anymore if Wufei wasn't such a hard-ass when it came to writing Chinese characters and speaking. He makes her copy dialogues and books even."

"It keeps her safe," Gina pointed out.

It'd been two weeks since the incident where Jaenelle had been assaulted by the other students. No one really knew for sure what Heero thought of the entire thing because he certainly wasn't about to talk about it with his students and had been forced into publicly denying any feelings he may or may not have for her. This, naturally, caused the extremely paranoid and somewhat emotionally insecure Jaenelle to decide to give up on the Perfect Soldier. "It was a stupid crush anyway," Jaenelle had insisted.

"You know damn well he's under pressure," Sharon had retorted back. "Please don't ignore the elephant in the room, Jae."

In all truth, it was frustrating for Sharon, because as loud and hyper as she came off, she was not remotely stupid and was remarkably observant. Normally so was Jaenelle, and in fact very little got past Jae... except when it came to herself and appreciating herself. She had been cursed with a low self-esteem and to Sharon's exasperation ignored the few times that 01 had looked her way with an unmistakable yearning to talk to her, all the while Jae kept her head down and would practically bolt out of the room in a frenzy.

Sharon loved Jaenelle dearly, but times like that she wanted to chase her down and beat sense into her. At least it wasn't as bad as in 2005 when she'd confessed she liked Wang Fang to Professors Ni and Shang.

"Go tell him," Shang had said.

"No way!" Jaenelle had sputtered.

"Why not?" Shang had been honestly baffled. "He's just a man."

"But... I'd... I've never... I don't..." Jaenelle's face flushed.

Ni had considered Jaenelle's statement seriously and had replied, "Perhaps you ought to take advantage of the assignment I have laid in class to interview a Chinese about Chinese-American relationships. You could ask Wang Fang to help you over a cup of tea or a lunch while you interview him and that way you can also get to know him."

"Good idea!" Jaenelle had replied. "I'll ask him later."

Shang had snorted. "You can him now. Look, here he comes." And indeed, as Shang had said, Wang Fang had appeared then, exiting the building and going outside, heading towards them.

It had been at that moment that Jaenelle had _bolted_ across the parking lot in a straight sprint, Sharon running after her and screaming, "JAE! STOP! FUCKING _STOP!!!"_

Her friend had wailed later when Ni had told them that, as Jaenelle was running away, Shang had pointed at her disappearing figure and said to Wang, "Jae has some questions for you."

So, yeah, Jaenelle was doing better this time around than she had two years ago in 2002. But that didn't mean that her friend didn't have some internal issues to come to terms with, and it certainly didn't help that Heero was now on strict orders to keep his distance from Jaenelle. There had to be _some _way to help them, because like hell Sharon was going to let this just slide. There was no fucking way, no way at all.

A sharp knock at the door jerked Sharon out of her thoughts. Gina, groaning from her chair – her back had been bothering her since the last flight simulation – answered it. "What's up, Checkie?"

"It's _horrible!"_ Checkie wailed, heading into their room and flopping on Sharon's bed dramatically, burying his head in her pillow. "Just horrible! They can't do this to me! I'm so _delicate!_"

"What's horrible?" Sharon raised an eyebrow.

Turning his head so only one eye was visible, Checkie peered at Sharon from the pillow. "You'll see."

* * *

"Oh hell," Sharon groaned when the announcement in the hall was made. "This officially qualifies as the worst idea for a field trip _ever."_

Quatre was passing out the flyers to the students as he called out, "Don't worry, your safety will always be our number one priority for the duration of the trip."

"_Battle Royale_, much?" Megh commented darkly.

For three days the Preventer cadets were going to be shipped to an island in teams. Each student would wear a body suit and be given a different type of gun loaded with "bullets" that were really normally used for paint-ball guns. The body suit had a special kind of fiber wiring in it that, when shot, would account for how badly the "wound" would affect the student in the suit. If it was a fatal blow, the student was out of the game and had to go to one of the checkpoints to be taken back to base.

"At least we're in teams," Steph pointed out. "Team of five and we get to choose."

"Jae's not allowed on the trip since she's Wufei's apprentice now and not in normal classes," Megh nodded. "Maybe Checkie will want to be in our group?"

"_If _he doesn't faint too much," Sharon muttered.

Checkie, not to anyone's surprise, was more than delighted to be asked to be on their team. "Will you protect me?" he asked, clasping his hands together.

"Of course," Steph smiled as Sharon facepalmed.

"Oh, _thank you_, honey!" Checkie hugged Steph. "Thank you!"

"Checkie, didn't you come here to learn how to be a man?" Sharon pointed out.

Checkie shot Sharon a glare that any dramatic high school female would envy.

From the podium, Lady Une said, "You will be put on the island in order of programme. Those of you who are enrolled in the one-year programme shall be deployed on the morrow at four a.m. Sharp. Those of you on the three year programme shall be deployed, also at four in the morning, exactly twenty-four hours after the first year returns."

"Well," Sharon sighed. "I already hate early mornings. I'm going to hate this one even more."

* * *

Stuffed in the back of a helicopter and with a rifle in her lap and a bag on her back, Sharon thought this was going to be the worst day of her life ever. She really did. The chairs they were all individually strapped to were uncomfortable, they hadn't covered rifles yet in class and the entire ride there she'd had to put the gun together herself. She had been cursing herself for not trying to learn how to do it all those years prior when her brother, a police officer, had tried to teach her. He'd taken apart the M-16 and put it back together, then shown Sharon how. She'd given up after five seconds with a, "Fuck this shit." Now she had spent three hours putting it together, mainly thanks to Gina and Steph figuring it out. Megh had to resist the urge to throw the pieces out the window multiple times in frustration herself.

Across from her, Checkie was hugging his gun like it was a stuffed animal that would save him from the evil darkness that awaited. It would be cute almost if the situation didn't suck so fucking bad. He'd not had much ease with putting his gun together either, but now all of them were situated with the gun and were stuck waiting to land on this damned island.

Next to her, Gina already had busted out a map of the island and was studying it, putting it to memory. Thank the gods for Gina, because she was always prepared.

"Hey, G-fuu," Sharon said after a minute.

"Yeah?"

"You know how yesterday I said I was almost jealous of Jae for being stuck in Wufei's office copying characters?" Sharon snorted. "It's not 'almost' anymore."

Before anyone could get in another comment, a buzzer went off and a red light next to the door flashed. *T-MINUS TEN SECONDS UNTIL DEPLOYMENT, * an electronic voice sounded.

"Deployment?" Sharon blinked. Steph's eyes went wide. "Oh my fucking god," she whispered.

* FIVE. *

"OH HELL NO, THIS IS NOT HOW I WANTED TO GO," Sharon screamed. Checkie was clutching his gun, looking around frantically as the countdown continued. "What? What? I don't get it!"

*FOUR. THREE. *

Gina shoved the map in her pocket, her forehead starting to sweat.

*TWO. ONE. *

"Fuck. You. All." Sharon, of course.

* DEPLOYMENT COMMENCING. *

The buzzer sounded yet again and the floor right underneath Sharon's chair disappeared. So did the chair bottom.

"OH MY FUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!" Sharon screamed as she was suddenly plummeting towards the ground at a speed she did not want to know. The wind was whipping up and around her and far below was the island and... the ocean.

Ill-regardless of the fact that they were equipped with parachutes, Sharon did not know how to swim.

"FUUUCK YOUUUU PEEEEEEOOOOOOPLEEEEE!" Sharon screamed even more, her arms flailing as her body turned towards the sky, wishing she could punch and kick more than the air. "YOU ASSSSSSHOOOOOLES!" She sincerely debated firing a few rounds at the helicopter, ignoring the fact that there were not real bullets in there. She did not care. She wanted them all to die in a fire right now. With a shark. Which she would probably find in the _ocean in which she could not swim!_

Suddenly out from beneath the helicopter dropped Checkie, who was screaming and flailing and unlike Sharon, not with a tight grip on his gun for seconds later it was falling too and away from him.

"YOU IDIOT!" Sharon screamed, waving her arms and pointing towards the gun that was drifting farthr and farther away. "THAT'S YOUR ONLY WEAPON!"

Checkie, who was catching up to her, was shaking his head and wailing. "MAMA!" he sobbed. "WEISHENME, MAMA?!"

"YOUR MOTHER CAN'T HEAR YOU, TRY TO FUCKING GET YOUR GUN!"

A second later Gina was deployed. Unlike Checkie or Sharii, Gina wasn't screaming. Gina never screamed. Instead, on her face was a wide-eyed look of pure terror as she too hugged her gun, not moving as she plummeted, a little too outwardly calm for the situation.

Sharon would have been amused at Gina's inability to scream if they weren't _heading towards the fucking ocean._ "G-fuu!" Sharon called out.

Gina was too far away to hear her, but she was catching up to Checkie, who was mimicking swimming motions towards his probably unreachable gun, still wailing for his mother as Steph was deployed, screaming and swearing in a similar fashion to Sharon. Two seconds later, Megh was deployed, looking just plain fucking pissed.

Having caught up to her, Checkie wailed and reached for Sharon. "SHARII!" he cried, wrapping his arms around her. "WE'RE GOING TO DIE!"

Looking down at the ocean that was coming a little too close, Sharon couldn't help but agree.

Suddenly shooting past them went Steph. She had pointed her body in a diver's position and angled her body towards the island, the gun sticking out in front of her. She looked just like a dart. "Follow suit!" Steph called over her shoulder.

Nodding, Megh and Gina did as they were told.

Sharon made to try and follow, but realised that Checkie was still holding her. "Checkie, you have to let go," Sharon said firmly.

Wailing, Checkie shook his head no.

"I am fucking _serious_, Checkie!" Sharon snapped.

"I'm too scared!" he cried. "You have to hold me!"

"YOU IDIOT! Now is the time to be trying to _survive_!" When he shook his head again, Sharon swore viciously and tried to pry his hands off her, but every time she got one hand off, the other would grab her again. "CHECKIE, WHAT THE SHIT?!"

"I don't want to die!" he moaned.

"Then fucking let _go _so we can head towards the damn island!" God damn, didn't he even have the common sense to do what was necessary to _save himself? _Hesitating, Sharon lifted a leg and shoved her knees very hard into Checkie's stomach before kicking out, pushing him finally off her.

"SHARII!" Checkie screamed, flailing.

"DO THIS!" Sharon straightened her body and turned in a diving position, angling her body towards the island. It took him a couple of tries, but he managed to angle it right and then they were both headed towards the island over the ocean. Ahead of them, the others had activated their parachutes and were headed for the ground.

When she finally sailed over the ground and away from the _ocean_, Sharon moved her legs down so that she was vertically upright again. Feeling finally a bit calm about her predicament and proud of herself for making it this far, Sharon looked down at her backpack and happily pulled the string for their parachute.

And got slammed in the back by Checkie.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Sharon shrieked, the parachute shooting up as Checkie's arms were around her waist, their bodies tumbling out of control as the parachute tried to catch the air, wanting to sail.

"You _left_ me," Checkie wailed. "You actually _left me, Sharii!"_

"GOD FUCKING DAMMIT, CHECKIE!"

The parachute finally caught the air and slowed down their descent, but they were still descending at an alarming rate. They flew, spinning, past the running figures of Steph and Megh, over the checkpoint station, over the river just outside the station and finally into the field just outside of the woods. The two of them crashed on the ground, Sharon's legs taking most of the weight – both her's _and _Checkie's before the two of them were rolling on the ground, entangled in the parachute.

Sharon was quite sure that she was going to kill Checkie when she felt well enough to stand up again.

She was also, as she touched her face in a panic, quite sure that she'd lost her glasses when they touched down. Everything- and she meant _everything _was blurry - and she was now utterly blind.

"You are SO dead," Sharon muttered painfully, forcing herself to her feet.

"You _saved _me!" Checkie swooned, still holding Sharon tight. "You really did!"

"Get _off_ me!" Sharon snapped, shoving him off her. He stumbled backwards a few steps, the final step followed by a condemning _crack!_

"...don't tell me," Sharon muttered.

Checkie lifted his foot and picked up the object he'd stepped on. "I found your glasses!"

"Great," Sharon sighed. "Just. Fucking. Great."


	25. Chapter 25

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Oh my goodness, I'm at chapter 25. I honestly can't put into words how shocked I am that it reached this point. I'd never intended for it to develop a serious plot or for it to even last past potentially chapter 15, but once I started writing it just... flowed. 25 is a big number, so I figure I should toss in some thanks before I continue. First and foremost, thanks to Sharii (hypaalicious) and Gina (TheParadox) for your faithful reviews and for laughing because I somehow manage to toss you all in these crazy situations and keep you in character at the same time. Your reviews mean a lot to me, as much as your laughter.

Finally, thanks to the others who encouraged me to continue this fic and to those of you who have left me reviews or added me to your Author Alerts or Story Watch. I honestly appreciate it. I haven't heard from any of you recently, so if you're still reading and enjoying, I'm glad. I really am.

Enough of the annoying babble: onto the fic!

**Chapter 25**

Looking at the security camera, Duo shook his head as he watched Sharon Gladden start shaking Checkie Chen and shouting. "What's her vision, anyway?" Duo said over his shoulder to Trowa, who was watching another set of screens.

"Certainly not 20/20," Trowa replied, turning a knob and focusing in on another group. "She mentioned once that she was born two months premature, so her eyes are underdeveloped. Without her glasses, she's technically blind with the world as one big blur." Trowa sighed. "So, Chen has no weapon and Gladden is now blind. This doesn't bode well with their group."

"No," Duo grinned. "But it'll be funny as hell to watch!"

Trowa raised an eyebrow. "That's a bit of a sadistic statement."

"I aim to please," Duo put his arms behind his head, still grinning as he turned his eyes back to the screen. "Where's Q-man?"

Trowa's gaze softened a little, looking fairly pained. "He has business at home."

* * *

Because he was the only male of the Winner family, Quatre was technically the head of the family now in spite of being the youngest of twenty-nine. This meant that if something came up, he had to head home. His father, Zayeed, had left Quatre in charge of the Winner fortune in his will, something he'd written long before his death.

It had been his sister Sibaal who had called him home, Sibaal who looked so much like the late Iria except for the fact that her hair was a shade darker. They had something very important to discuss with him and he had a feeling he knew what it was.

Didn't mean he wanted to deal with it, however.

Taking a deep breath, Quatre entered the living room of the long-since rebuilt manor home and faced his four eldest sisters including Sibaal who rose from the couches. "There is no God but Allah and Muhammed is his prophet," Quatre recited the _Shahada _in unison with his sisters before taking his proper seat.

"Quatre," Sibaal smiled. His other sisters Soraya, Najya, and Rasmiyah sat calmly and serenely on the couches, looking pensive and calm as they waited for Sibaal to speak. "Thank you for taking the time to see us, brother."

"It's no trouble," Quatre returned the smile, waiting for the words that he knew would be spoken, the argument that he was frankly sick and tired of dealing with.

Sibaal's smile wavered. "We understand that you are well content with your job and life at the Preventers," Sibaal continued. "And we have been able to help with the family as you have requested. However, Quatre you are approaching the age of twenty-four next year and have still not addressed the issue of wedding and providing an heir to the Winner family."

Quatre bit back a sigh. He knew this was what they wanted to talk with him about. He also knew that he couldn't keep denying their request much longer. In truth, he had found more than companionship with Trowa and this was something he dared not say to his sisters. The religion they had been raised on did not tolerate such a thing and being the heir to such a fortune... it would cause a scandal.

Of course he'd talked about this before with Trowa. Of course he knew that eventually he would have to deal with it and end up wedding one of their hand-picked brides from some family who could traced their bloodline back to Allah-knows-where. But he had little choice. If the public knew his preference...

No. They couldn't know. It would destroy everything. He knew it. Trowa knew it. He... would go through with it. Life didn't have to change too much.

He just... _hated_ being dishonest. But sometimes... damn it all, sometimes it was necessary.

He let out the breath he'd been holding. "Alright."

Sibaal exchanged a look with his sisters before turning back to him and smiling. "Allah be praised," she murmured, rising to hug her brother. "Don't worry, we shall find you a beautiful, beautiful bride!"

* * *

It took less than a day. Not to his surprise, men had already been offering their daughters as the potential bride to the Winner heir. He knew none of them would protest. In spite of the fact that it was mainly looked at as an ancient custom, arranged marriages between wealthy families were still common.

The woman he was to marry was named Layla; it meant 'night beauty' in Arabic. Her hair was light with dark eyes and she blushed when he looked at him. They stood before a mullah, ready to sign the contract.

He almost couldn't believe he was doing this. He was honestly about to get married, and it was to someone he had never met before.

When the mullah was preparing the documents, Quatre whispered, "Are you sure you're alright with this?"

Without looking up at him, Layla nodded slowly.

Turning around and spreading the parchment on the table, the mullah read off the necessary vows that Quatre and Layla would have to agree to. First Quatre had to say yes, then she. To both his relief and disappointment, she said yes.

"Congratulations," the mullah said solemly. "You are now husband and wife."

* * *

Quatre laid awake, staring at the ceiling in the bed that he was unfamiliar with in spite of the fact that it was technically his house, his home. His new wife laid beside him, also staring at the ceiling. The silence stretched out between them for a long time. He had no idea what to say to her. It had been... awkward, at best. She was inexperienced, he completely unsure of himself.

"Do..." Layla swallowed. "Do you think we did it?"

Quatre turned his head. "Did what?"

"Made a child?"

Quatre shut his eyes and chuckled. "I have no idea. Maybe, if Allah wills."

Layla was silent for a few moments. "You'll hardly be home, won't you?"

He winced. "Likely."

"That's okay," Layla replied. "I didn't come into a love match, so I wasn't expecting one. But... I'm just worried you won't care. About the baby, if there is one."

Quatre turned over to face her, his eyes looking wide and filled with sadness. "Of course I will care," he said, putting his hand on her arm. "I just... have to work. Things to do. But... but if we did make a baby..." Damn, it was so awkward to say.

"You'll be around?"

Quatre nodded.

After a few more minutes of considering silence, Layla smiled shakily. "If we didn't, then maybe next time we'll both learn how to enjoy it."

Against his better judgment of the situation, Quatre laughed. So did she. Turning over in bed, he shut his eyes and murmured, "Goodnight, Layla."

"Goodnight, Quatre."

He listened to the covers shift, listened to her settle.

He knew her back was to him too.

* * *

Hesitating, Quatre turned the knob to the door and entered the control room, finding himself looking at the back of the heads of Heero, Trowa, and Duo. "So, wha'd I miss?" he smiled.

"Quatre!" Duo exploded out of his seat, stomping towards him and grabbing a newspaper. He tossed at Quatre roughly, almost angrily. "Why the hell didn't you tell us, man?"

Blinking, Quatre looked down at the front page and sighed. Naturally it would be in the news, considering how important he was. "It wasn't like it was a ceremony," Quatre sighed.

"Yeah, but we'd want to be there!' Duo insisted, obviously hurt. "You just got _married_ and none of us were informed? _Invited_, even?"

"Duo," Heero snapped, casting a look at a very quietly solemn Trowa. "Have more respect. It was likely a marriage of convenience, not pleasure. Leave Quatre be about it."

"Yeah, but-"

Heero's glare cut through him. Duo muttered incoherently.

Hesitating and telling himself that they wouldn't ask questions, Quatre looked at both Heero and Duo before making his voice firm. "Duo... Heero... would you mind?" He cast a glance at the door.

Before Duo could protest, Heero was up out of his chair and pushing his braided friend out the door. "We need to report to Une," he said.

Duo's jaw dropped in surprise. "But what-"

"Shut up."

As Heero shoved Duo out the door, he turned his head back to Quatre and nodded once. Looking relieved, Quatre nodded back, a sign of thanks.

The door shut and he and Trowa were alone.

"I..." Quatre fumbled for the words.

Trowa smiled a little sadly. "I understand, Quatre. We've talked about it plenty of times. I knew it would happen eventually. I guess... I would've liked a little warning is all."

Quatre looked down at the ground, unable to speak for a moment. Would this ruin them?

A full minute passed before Trowa said, "Will you take to living at home?"

"No," Quatre replied. "I will still be here for the most part."

"Then... not much has to change."

Looking up at the smiling eyes of his partner, Quatre smiled back. "No," he agreed. "Not terribly much."

* * *

"Stop being mad at meeeeeeeee," Checkie wailed as he followed Sharon, shoving leaves and branches away trying to keep up.

Sharon, who had wasted a whole round of paint bullets chasing Checkie around the forest before another team had spotted them and opened fire ("It's your fault!" Checkie had snapped. "You were so loud and aggressive!"), was wishing she could drop kick Checkie off a cliff at the moment. He'd crushed the left lens of her glasses so she was only blind in one eye. They'd managed to escape without getting hit, but it meant she only had one round left and hadn't gotten the chance to regroup with the others yet. Now they were trekking through the woods and off the path so they wouldn't be so easy to find. Unfortunately, this also meant they had no idea where they were.

"Sharii, it's almost _dawn_," Checkie complained. "We barely slept and I'm tired!" He flopped on the ground dramatically. "I am not moving," he declared, crossing his arms with a _humph._

Sharon turned around, raising her gun in the air. "If you don't get your ass up, I'ma shoot you so bad your Momma's milk leaks through your bones!"

"What?" Checkie blinked, not understanding the insult.

Sharon aimed.

"Okay, okay!" Checkie stood up, but not before picking a plant from the bed in which he had just sat in. "It doesn't have a flower. I can be its flower!"

Sharon rolled her eyes. "You are so- okay, never mind. Let's go. We have to find Gina and the others."

"_Hao de!" _Checkie replied, skipping after Sharon and still holding the plant. Catching up to her, he rubbed the plant against her face. "Youuuuu can be it's flower tooooo!"

"Stop it!" Sharon flung her hands in the air, knocking the plant from his hand and ignoring his pouting expression. "With my fucking luck, I'm allergic to whatever it is you just stuck on me. God!" She shook her head and kept walking, severely agitated with her current situation.

An all too familiar sound rang through the air. Sharon dodged as Checkie dropped to his knees, shrieking. Looking up, Sharon saw two others rushing towards her from higher up. She glanced at the tree, which now had a yellow paint stain. "Run!" she hissed.

Paint-ball bullets whizzed through the air as the two of them ran through the woods, desperate to escape the two others who were now descending upon them. Sharon was swearing under her breath as Checkie's arms were flailing in the air while he screamed. _He really should've been born a girl, _she couldn't helpd but think as they were trying to get away.

To her utmost horror, someone else popped up from a hedge. "OH MY FUCK," Sharon screamed as they wasted no time at all and unloaded five rounds at her chest. Her suit began glowing red on the lining and an electronic voice spoke from a metal disc on the wrist in the suit. *Fatality, * it declared.

"Oh well, that's just great," Sharon threw her gun on the ground as the student retreated to rejoin his comrades, giving each other high-fives. She looked up and asked the sky, "Does this mean I can go _home_ now?"

"SHARII!" Checkie screamed from down the hill. "Come down here and protect me!"

"I'm _dead_, you idiot!" Sharon snapped, pointing at herself, which was still glowing red. "Protect yourself!" Picking up her discarded gun, she threw it down the hill at Checkie, who screamed and waved his hands effeminately as the gun landed in front of him.

"It's _jammed!"_ he wailed when he picked it up.

Shaking her head and ignoring his wailing, Sharon went up to the students who had succeeded in "killing" her and headed back with them, knowing that at least for her the game was over and at least now she didn't have to deal with Checkie any-

*Fatality, * an electronic voice behind her spoke.

A distorted look of shock on her face, Sharon whipped around to stare at Checkie, who had somehow, in trying to fix the gun effectively shot himself in the chest. Her palm smacked against her face so hard she thought for a moment she broke her one _good_ lens.

Skipping up the hill and completely discarding the gun, Checkie hooked his arm with Sharon. "Looks like we're together again, sweetie!" he cooed.

"...if you killed yourself on purpose, I swear to god," Sharon muttered under her breath.

Arm in arm with Checkie and listening to him babble about how violence just isn't good for his complexion, Sharon followed the other students up the hill, sincerely hoping that on the way back to the checkpoint that there would indeed be a cliff nearby where she could potentially push a certain gabbing individual off it.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Staring at her mobile phone with an expression she wasn't even sure herself how to identify, Relena scrolled down through the text message list, staring at the singular name that appeared in her inbox. Just a mere minute ago, she'd looked through her sent messages and stared at the list of the ones she'd sent that had never been answered.

How long had it been like this? She'd told herself that the reason he'd never replied was simple: he just wasn't a social person. He didn't like to talk, and he was distant. It had been, she had told herself more times than she could remember, one of his quirks. Of course he never replied. He was busy, he didn't know how to talk about himself, he just didn't know how to reply.

Then there was the thought at the back of her mind, the one she'd avoided truly answering, truly acknowledging: he hadn't forgiven her.

In all truth, it had been childish of him. No, she criticised herself with a sigh, it'd been childish of _her_ what she had done. She had six years to grow up since that happened and six years was plenty of time to realise just how immature she had been. At first she'd blamed herself. Her actions _had _been uncalled for. She shouldn't have reacted that way, couldn't even believe that she'd been stupid enough to do what she did. "Even angels fall," she murmured to herself.

It had taken her a while to forgive herself. How lonely _had_ she been, in truth, throughout it all? In her childhood, in her adolescence, she'd been so desperately lonely. Her adopted father – who at the time she didn't know wasn't her birth father – had been busy with politics, her mother playing the part of the politician's wife. Certainly they had paid for everything that Relena had asked for, which none of it had been impractical or spoiled, unlike the rest of the girls who had attended her school. Relena had the education of a woman proper even at a young age. Learned in the piano, studying English-style riding in equine sports, more than plenty of books to her liking, she was not in want of something to do in her spare time. In fact, she was always studying something. Her peers respected her, practically saw her as a goddess for reasons she'd never known. She'd always been polite, always listened when talked to, but could never contribute to their gossip, their ways of thinking. Instead she just demurred, focused on her studies, and had accepted being respected with the best that she'd ever get with friendship.

But that didn't change how lonely she'd been, how there had been a person inside, just desperately wanting to get out, to breathe, to _become_. That person didn't have the chance, not until near the eve of her fifteenth birthday when she found a boy washed up on a shore, a boy who ended up changing her entire life. That boy had been Heero Yuy and she'd fallen desperately in love with him for within him was the first honesty she'd ever seen. Hadn't everyone, including the parents who raised her, been dishonest in some fashion? She'd never known about her heritage, her classmates and peers prissy and flaky in spite of their blatant hero-worship. It was ironic how Heero, having hiding a terrible secret of being a Gundam Pilot, had been more honest than any of those others.

Dedicated to loving him and helping him, she'd gone to crazy lengths to aide him, especially after she'd learned who she really was: a princess of the Sanq Kingdom that had practised and preached total pacifism. Knowing how lonely he felt too amidst the war, conflict, and fighting, she'd created Sanq kingdom as a haven for those wary in hopes that it would be an example to mankind that fighting hadn't been necessary after all. In truth, she'd not only done it for the memory of her late father whom she didn't remember, but for Heero himself.

The rest of the war came and went and while Relena had been forced to confront herself in ways she'd never dreamed possible, she found herself no longer in the dull routine that she'd had before but instead had been crowned a queen in name if not officially any longer, seen as the very incarnation of peace itself. She was in a political office at sixteen years old and with more stress than any child her age should ever have to endure, all the while yearning to be close to the one person who had opened the doors to make this all possible.

Was it any wonder she'd cracked the way she did? Wanted, for a single moment, to live like the rest of them? To be _normal? _To accept that second, third, fourth glass of wine after all? Did anyone even remember she was human?

One person did. And that person had never forgiven her for her moment of weakness because in that moment she'd done something she never, ever should have.

Relena was twenty-three now instead of seventeen. She was older, more mature, wiser, better at carrying the mantle she'd been given in her adolescence. What she'd done had been stupid. But she herself had been stupid, even though the rest of the world hadn't realised she was capable of human error, Heero included. And now that she was older, she was able to not only forgive herself, but also understand something that she had never let herself understand before.

She was making excuses. Had been making excuses. But in order for her to move on, to really move on with her life, she needed to talk to him. He had to stop running too. They had to discuss this like adults. Because... that was what they are.

Sighing to herself, Relena exited her message screen, went through her list, picked a name and called. "Hello, Bran?" Relena felt herself smile when he said her name. When was the last time she'd smiled like this? "Yes, I'm free for dinner tonight, but... I may have a lot to tell you when I get there, if I'm lucky."

* * *

Because she was one of the top patrons of the facility, Relena didn't need an escort throughout the Preventers Headquarters. She only had to sign in with the receptionist and then she was given free roam just about. In the beginning a couple of times she'd even just sat in on Heero's classes just to listen to him speak. He'd always been a little awkward, never really good at public speaking. She'd given him pointers, tips of how to look at people, how to get their attention. It had been one of her final good memories with him.

Puzzled that he hadn't been in his office and wasn't teaching, Relena went looking around the others' offices, wondering if perhaps he was there. She wouldn't be stupid enough to talk about this in front of anyone else, but she didn't just want to wait outside the door either. She knew he'd bolt. Even if he didn't want to admit it, Heero could be terribly avoidant like that.

To her surprise, the door to Chang Wufei's office was open. Thinking that perhaps Heero was there, Relena headed for it, turning into the doorway and stopped just inside, staring at the girl sitting at Wufei's desk pouring over her work. The girl raised her head and looked at her. She was the last person Relena wanted to see right now, with the exception of perhaps Lilith de Racine.

Relena swallowed, trying to find words. _"Is he not in love with her, do you think?" _Dorothy's voice echoed in her head. "H-Hello," Relena smiled.

The girl, to Relena's surprise, blushed slightly. "Hi," she replied quietly.

A forced cheerfulness that Relena hadn't know she could muster so strongly pushed her forward, towards the desk. "Doing extra work for Wufei's class?" Relena asked nicely.

"Oh, kind of," the girl laughed.

Stepping to the desk, Relena lifted up one of the papers, her eyes glazing over the tons and tons of Chinese characters that the girl had written. Wufei certainly was a hard taskmaster. She couldn't read Chinese at all, so she set down the paper. "What is this for?"

The girl leaned back in her chair, tapping her pencil on her chin. "The work that's assigned in the textbooks." She moved a stack of notebooks and lifted up a textbook with the title, _Integrated Chinese: Traditional Chinese Character Edition_. It was a little thick even for Relena's liking. "Wufei likes it to be on this kind of paper in the normal format. You know, read right to left."

Relena nodded, a memory coming to her mind before she made a face. "Does Wufei teach a formal Chinese course of this caliber?"

The girl's smile faded a little. "It's for my entrance exams."

"Entrance exams?"

She nodded, turning her head to look back at her book. "For Dalong University on L5."

"You're... not staying with the Preventers?" Relena blinked, taken slightly aback. Did Heero know?

The girl swallowed hard. "I'm... not supposed to."

Relena understood instantly. She had remembered all too well how those news headlines after Dorothy's gala had painted the picture. She was technically a student and now seen as getting involved with a teacher. Whether or not it was true, it would damage the reputation of the school and some of the patrons would withdraw their support and funding.

Knowing she'd made the girl uncomfortable, Relena picked up another one of the pieces of paper, a calligraphy written in elegant script. "This is _beautiful," _Relena said in awe as she studied it. "Did you do this?"

To Relena's surprise, the girl let out a snort and laughed. "No way! _Chang _did that." Rummaging through the papers, the girl pulled out a piece of paper with an unhappy :( painted on it. "_This _is mine."

Laughing, Relena took the paper and studied it, a massive smile on her face. She looked down at the girl, grinning. "I like it better than Wufei's."

The girl looked shocked, then joined Relena in laughter.

"What's your name?" Relena asked, the resentment she'd felt earlier die within her. She couldn't hate her, just because of how Heero may or may not feel about her. That, Relena realised, was childish and not representing the girl herself. She should take the girl as she is and judge her based off that, not off her own jealousy.

"Jaenelle," she smiled. She held out her hand. "Relena Peacecraft, right?"

Nodding, Relena took her hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Jaenelle."

"Same," Jaenelle nodded back, withdrawing her hand. She tilted her head, studying. "You really _do _look like Steph. It's kind of freaky, to be honest."

Relena couldn't help but smile. "I'm grateful she does look at me." She paused, considering, then weighed the small glimpse of humour she'd seen in the girl before. "Well, I wasn't grateful a month ago..."

Jaenelle brust into laughter. "_Yeah_, I definitely saw that on television. I'm surprised you didn't kill her."

"I'd be a poor pacifist if I had."

Jaenelle laughed again just as Wufei entered the room, holding two cups of tea. "Foreign Minister," Wufei nodded curtly as he passed her and set down a cup in front of Jaenelle. "I see you've met my pupil."

"She's quite impressive," Relena offered.

Wufei snorted. "There's more than plenty of room for improvement."

"He's right," Jaenelle smiled sheepishly. "I didn't do my homework last night. That's why I'm sitting here even longer than anyone else. Everyone else has gone home."

"Home?" Relena echoed. Was Heero not there?

Seemingly psychic at the moment, Wufei crossed his arms. "Yuy's in the control room. If you want to talk to him, go now. Everyone else has left for the day."

Relena nodded, then decided to give something a shot. "Um... _shay shay?"_

"_Xie xie," _Wufei corrected sternly on her pronunciation of 'thank you'.

Jaenelle offered an encouraging smile. "I still pronounce that wrong sometimes."

Wufei snorted. "She often says _sie sie_ instead of _xie xie."_

Relena decided she wouldn't admit she couldn't hear the difference between the two and just nodded. Looking at the painted sad face in her hands, Relena turned to Jaenelle. "Do you mind if I keep this?" she asked, ignoring Wufei's jaw dropping. Wufei must not have known Jaenelle had done that.

Jaenelle blinked, surprised. "You want to keep that?"

"It'll cheer me up," Relena confessed. "It's so silly."

Jaenelle laughed and nodded. "Go ahead."

"I'd personally burn it," Wufei snorted. "What a waste of paper and ink, Jaenelle! Don't do that again! _Ming bai ma?"_

"_Ming bai a..."_

Deciding it was a good time to exit, Relena thanked the two of them one more time and left his office, heading for the control room where she knew Heero was.

* * *

At that moment sipping a coffee, Heero was watching the screens showing the progress of what was happening on the island. On screen, he watched a disgruntled Gina, Steph, and Megh in the house that was on the island. Most of the other groups have eliminated each other with only two groups left, counting theirs. The only reason their group was one of the two survivors was the fact that they hadn't rushed out to confront the others, which had been a wise move. He did however severely doubt the three of them had the skills against the remaining group on the island however.

Curious, Heero watched Gina pull something out of her bag. What had Gina brought? They had been allowed to pack an overnight bag with whatever they felt necessary-

Oh. "I see," he mused.

He wasn't sure if he should be angry because this was breaking school rules or feeling the amusement that he actually was feeling but there it was. Gina just brought out her laptop out of her bag and was turning it on as the other two girls were stationed at the windows and watching the front door for any potential enemy threats. She was going to try and access the network over the island. Clever Gina. He was curious as to how good her hacking skills were and would likely find out in the next thirty seconds.

Setting down his coffee, Heero let his hands gently rest over the keyboard. It was unlikely that Gina would prove to be a challenge for him, but he wasn't going to be stupid enough to underestimate an opponent. Gina was quiet and soft spoken, but he knew behind her extremely quiet nature was a sharp mind. At the very least, this would be interesting.

Sure enough, the central screen flashed red, warning of a security breach. "Twenty-eight seconds," Heero murmured, taking note of how long it had taken Gina to actually access the system. "Not bad, Miss Stewart."

Another screen popped up, showing the progress that Gina was making. Heero glanced at his watch. Ten seconds would be enough to give her hope that she actually had a chance of hacking their system and getting the data she needed in order to stand a chance at fighting their opponent as well as know the ins and outs of the island. He counted down and at exactly ten seconds he let his fingers fly over the keyboard.

He issued a command, watching Gina scratch her head. The red kept flashing on the screen. Heero entered another. Gina scratched her head again as the red stopped flashing, her efforts cut off. Heero felt himself smile. He knew he was winning now.

To his utter surprise, within ten seconds the screen flashed red again. "Oh really?" Heero murmured, straightening in his chair. Gina was more efficient than he thought. However, this would never do. Time to end this.

His fingers flying over the keyboard and shuffling through his pocket for a flash drive, Heero shut down each and every port that Gina had accessed. By the time he stuck the thumb drive into the main computer, Gina's computer was hardly capable of internet access. He could reach her computer, but she couldn't get any data, couldn't download anything. Perfect.

Heero opened another window on the screen, opening the flash drive and issuing a command. It took ten seconds for him to download the entire contents of Gina's computer.

That was when he finished the final command to be sent to Gina's laptop.

Taking out the flash drive and leaning back in his chair, Heero sipped his coffee as he watched the look of horror form on Gina's face before hearing her agonised, "NOOOOOOOOO" over the screen as her computer crashed and shut down right before her eyes. He chuckled as he set down the cup. There was no way for her to even turn on her laptop now. He'd completely destroyed it temporarily and until she came back to base and he gave her the flash drive, she wouldn't be accessing anything.

"Nice try," he murmured, picking back up his cup and watching as Steph and Megh suddenly opened fire on the intruders that were incoming. The game would end in five minutes.

"Overseeing a mission?" a voice called out.

Heero's entire body tensed as he recognised who just spoke. "Relena," he whispered.

Turning in his chair, Heero watched the Vice Foreign Minister shut the door behind her. "It's... been a while," Relena said, her voice wavering a little.

"Hn," Heero turned his chair back around. "Only a month since the gala, if that."

He heard her footsteps come closer, saw a piece of white paper being set down next to him. His eyes looked at the small signature next to the unhappy face. Five characters, unheard of for a Chinese name, but not at all uncommon for a Japanese. _Shiroshita Yukina._ Yes. Jaenelle's Japanese name. She'd explained that Kelly was her mother's name, her parents divorced. Shiroshita had been her father's last name, Yukina her middle name.

He touched the paper softly, too many emotions to name as he looked at the unhappy face written in ink. He couldn't help but smile. Has Wufei been working her hard?

"I thought you'd want that," Relena said softly. "I just came from Wufei's office."

His heart gave a sharp pound. Did she realise what this action truly meant? Heero swallowed hard. "How is she?"

An unsure smile came across Relena's face. "Well enough. Wufei asks a lot of her, I think."

He nodded once.

Turning and leaning against the control panel, Relena looked down at the ground. "You never gave me the chance to apologise," she said after a moment.

Heero raised an eyebrow skeptically, his face back in its hard mask. He'd heard her say she was sorry enough. "Hn."

"I should clarify," Relena said quickly. "Before when I said I was sorry, I said it because I just wanted you to talk to me again so I could be in your life somehow. I didn't understand what I had done. I... don't think I'd really wanted to understand. I've never done anything 'wrong' in my life," she confessed after a moment. "I've just always... done what was told, what was expected of me. What I had been told I was supposed to do. Can you... understand that?"

Heero felt himself nod. Of course he could understand. He'd been the Perfect Soldier. He knew all too well what it felt like to just be forced to obey orders all the time, do what's expected and do it well.

He felt a slight ache in his heart. At one point in time, he'd truly believed she was the only one who he could relate to, who could even relate to him. How things had changed.

"I assumed a lot," Relena continued. "I did it because... I was young and I was foolish, more foolish than everyone in the world thought I was capable of. I think... people forget I'm a human being too, sometimes."

"I know," Heero heard himself say. He knew it was true, so he let it continue. "I... idealised you too."

Relena looked up at him. "I... am not going to wait for you anymore."

Heero blinked, genuinely and truly surprised.

"I need to live my own life," Relena smiled at him, picking up the piece of paper with Jaenelle's poor calligraphy. "And so do you." She handed it to him.

Heero took the paper, found himself staring at the signature again.

Buzzing sounded from Relena's pocket. Stuffing her hand in her skirt's pocket she pulled out her phone and a warm smile that surprised Heero even more formed on her face. "It seems I need to run for my dinner date," she said as she put it back in.

Heero made himself ask. "You're..."

"Dating someone else," Relena smiled.

He relaxed. Felt the tension drain from his body. He was grateful he asked.

Pushing from the control panel, Relena studied him. "I hope it won't bother you if I tell you the truth about something?" She took a deep breath. "I'm not going to lie or pretend that I never loved you. That's unfair to myself. But... I want to thank you for being my knight when you could. And... I would really prefer if you were back in my life. As my friend," Relena added emphasis on the end. "I mean that. I want us to be friends. We've been through too much together to not be friends."

Heero looked at the control panel. "You're right," he said after a minute. "You were... there for me, during the war. To not be your friend would be wrong."

"Then..." Relena held up her hand to shake. "Friends?"

Heero looked at the hand, then looked up at the face of the first person who'd ever said she was on his side.

"Friends," he said firmly, shaking her hand. "Friends."

Relena withdrew her hand. "I need to go now. I'll see you around, Heero Yuy."

Heero nodded. "Take care."

He turned back around in her chair as the sounds of her footsteps got closer to the door. He heard the sound of the doorknob turn, the creak of the door as it opened, the sound of its click when it shut.

He listened to the locks settle back in place.

And as he listened to what he knew she wanted him to believe was silence, he knew she was softly crying on the other side of the door. He stared at the paper in front of him, once again too many emotions for him to name, to know.

"Heero?" her voice called through the door, sounding a little shaky yet still firm. "You better not make her cry."

As the sound of her footsteps faded from his hearing, he shut his eyes, knowing there was no one to hear him but his heart.

"I promise."


	27. Chapter 27

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I understand that this fic started out as a comedy, but I think it's becoming fairly obvious that it's going to become something much, much deeper and darker. I have everything plotted in my head including the very end, so if you've stuck with me thus far please stay tuned, for the answers you've been waiting for are about to reveal themselves... soon. ;)

To** Paradox**: Gina, thanks as always for your amazing reviews and letting me know that I'm keeping the lot of us in character. I always look forward to your reviews the most. XD

To** LilXin**: 没问题，你写的review我看得懂！我非常高兴你喜欢这个故事。你是中国人么？我的汉语怎么样？

**Chapter 27**

September changed completely into October, meaning that the height of the election season had pretty much reached its peak. All the talk these days was of who would end up securing the mantle of President of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation and it was talk like this that was segregating the students in the Preventers' Organisation. It was no secret that all of the former Gundam Pilots supported Relena's campaign, but they were careful to not let anyone in on that fact too much. They tried their best to be unbiased... during hours, anyway.

However seated on the couch in the main lobby of the dormitory with some of the students was Duo Maxwell, watching the main debate between Relena Darlian-Peacecraft and current President Jensen on the television set.

* ...on the case of whether or not we are capable of defending ourselves without weapons, it's stupid to even discuss, * Jensen finished, looking a little uncomfortable at the moment. It was glaringly obvious that he was losing the debate.

* Tell me, Mister President, * Relena replied, keeping her cool. * If the Earth and the Colonies are truly a united nation, then why for would we need weapons? From whom would we defend ourselves from? *

"Defeated by logic," Duo chuckled. "Oh shit."

* We can't predict the actions of our own neighbors! * Jensen retorted.

* Are you suggesting that we need to be wary of our own neighbors? Of the people within our own borders? Our fellow countrymen, since that is now what we _all_ are, on Earth or colony alike? * Relena folded her hands together on the podium. * If there is a necessity to be wary of our very own neighbors then that is the fault of a failed administration from the previous presidency. *

* What nonsense- *

Relena cut him off. * Truly? Then let me ask you what factor primarily drives mankind to violence? Poverty. Desperation. Lack of education, support, and compassion. It is these things that drive a man to want to steal or murder from the stores or banks. Let's take a look at your administration thus far: where has the funding been distributed to? What have you and yours been doing for the society? It is no question at all that more money has been spent on your campaign in the past five months than it has been towards the poor, the weak, and the hungry. *

A murmur of agreement sounded through the lobby. Duo gave Relena a thumbs-up from his chair before standing up and stretching. "Enjoy the rest of the debate, kids," he said, waving before he exited the room, hearing the chorus of, "See ya, Instructor Maxwell" on his way out.

Personally, he'd be glad when all the debates were over. Jensen was a primary supporter of the Preventers Organisation as was Relena, so it really didn't matter towards the fate of his job what would happen to them, but that didn't change the fact that he was tired of all the fuss and the talk. He'd be glad of the elections being over in November when life could go back to normal and people weren't debating things like weapons bans or whether or not a woman should be able to abort her own child. It still galled him that those laws _never _seemed to get settled. It seemed that with every new presidency there was always tweaks made because no one was ever happy. Damn politics.

Still, he wished Relena luck. He hoped her idealism and liberal thinking wouldn't get her into trouble.

As he headed towards his office and bit back a groan when the thought of how much paperwork was waiting for him crossed his mind he saw Heero exit his office escorting Sharon Gladden, who was zipping up her coat. Blinking, Duo decided he was curious enough to find out. "Hey, Hee-man! Sharii!"

Heero glanced over his shoulder, scoffing a bit at the nickname as Sharon turned around and waved. "Oh hey! 'Sup?"

"Not much," Duo replied, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Where are you off to this fine Wednesday evening?"

"Singing lessons," Sharon grinned.

"Say wha?"

"I have singing lessons now off campus," Sharon explained. "You know the deal. Une says me and the other black one have to get escorted anywhere we go off campus now so I asked Instructor Yuy to help me." Heero merely nodded in confirmation.

"Sounds cool. Hey, Heero!" Duo grinned. "You gonna sing too?"

"Hn." Heero turned around fully. "Let's go, Miss Gladden."

"Make sure he sings!" Duo called out as Sharon waved.

Shaking his head, Duo entered his office and shut the door behind him, sighing at all the paperwork. He needed to finish these reports for Quatre and Une before midnight, but he wasn't sure he could do it. He'd been tired lately, just wanting a break or to relax. As he reached his desk, a memory played at his mind from earlier that morning. His mouth turned up into a massive grin.

Oh. Oho. So _that's _what Sharon was doing.

He certainly hoped Heero would appreciate it.

* * *

Putting the car in park and turning it off, Heero looked up at the massive skyscraper. They were just on the outskirts of the tiny Chinatown district connected to the large city in the area. It was normally a forty minute bus ride to this place but he'd taken one of the company cars, so they'd cut time by about twenty minutes. Neither he nor Sharon had said much on the drive there; he wasn't really a good conversationalist in spite of how much more social interaction he got. When he inquired about the homework for his class he'd gotten a nervous chuckle and a flat, "Working on it," for a response, which almost caused him to smile a bit.

Securing his gun in his jacket - he highly doubted that there was any threat here but he wasn't about to be careless – Heero opened the door and headed inside the building, keeping in step with Sharon as they walked to the elevator, which was already on the first floor when they pressed the up button.

"It's on the 19th floor," Sharon answered the unasked when they stepped inside.

Nodding once, Heero pressed the right button and the doors shut.

When they reached the 19th floor there was immediately the sound of music. A female soprano voice was clearly heard from down the hallway, singing a series of _aaah_s that moved up and down, flowing beautifully, a little shaky at parts but nothing at all unpleasant to the ears. It was soothing, Heero found himself thinking, feeling his body relax as they walked. The student before Sharon was quite talented.

"Here it is," Sharon said, waiting for a pause in singing before ringing the doorbell. A shrill, "_Lai le!" _sounded. Heero translated the Mandarin as "I'm coming" before the door opened. Heero recognised the student right away. Checkie Chen, homeroom with Quatre, mediocre at best in his own classes, lost his weapon during the island exercise.

"You came!" Checkie threw the door open enthusiastically at first noticing only Sharon, then noticing Heero behind her. "Oh! Instructor!" He turned to Sharon and whispered excitedly, "Is _he_ going to sing too?"

"No," Heero replied flatly.

"He's along for the ride," Sharon replied, entering the apartment. Heero followed suit and looked at the ground. Everyone had taken off their shoes and put on slippers. Typical for Asian homes. He took off his own shoes and slipped into guests' sandals, following Sharon around the corner...

...and froze when he saw who was standing at the grand piano.

He saw no one but her in that moment. He didn't see the Chinese man seated in front of the piano. He didn't hear his words, didn't see Checkie, didn't see Sharon, didn't notice the two children in the room being ushered into their bedroom by a woman who was presumably their mother. No, the only person he saw in that room was Jaenelle.

She was listening to the instructor speak in fast, crisp Mandarin, watching his hand motions to try and get the full meaning of what he was saying. She was nodding, her green eyes shining brightly with both a healthy frustration as well as a kind of peace.

His heart was pounding so hard in his chest he thought that it would break through his rib cage. Then logic reminded him how ludicrous the concept was and he swallowed, trying to breathe.

The instructor noticed him finally and pointed. "_Ta shi shei?" _he asked Jaenelle.

Jaenelle turned around, a smile on her face before she, too, froze when she saw him standing there. "I-Instructor Yuy!" she gasped.

"Hm?" her voice instructor looked puzzled at her expression.

"_Surprise_, Jae!" Sharon came up from behind Heero and put her hands on his shoulders suddenly, snapping him out of his own stare. "Lady Une requires that I have an escort whenever I go off campus and oh! I just so happened to decide that Instructor Yuy should do it! Yay!"

Jaenelle's face was a shade of red Heero was quite sure they'd have trouble identifying on a colour wheel. Sharon was grinning a little too widely. Heero just plain had no idea what to do or say so he stuck to silence.

"So, why don't we sit down and wait for the rest of Jae's lesson to finish? Okay!" Sharon sat down on the couch and crossed her legs, looking entirely too pleased with herself.

"You're dead," Jaenelle shot at her friend, forcing a smile.

Sharon spread her hands, still smiling. "I'm black."

The voice instructor, clearly not understanding English at all, looked at Checkie and asked, "_Tamen zenmele?"_

"_Wo bu zhi dao,"_ Checkie shrugged, also clueless as to what was going on.

Clearing his throat slightly, Heero approached their instructor. "My name- erm, _Wo jiao _Heero Yuy_," _he forced out, remembering a little bit of basic Mandarin enough to introduce himself.

"Zhao Kai," their instructor replied. "_Ni hui shuo zhongwen ma?"_

"_Yi dian dian,"_ Heero replied. That was the extent of his Chinese, and he was hoping to whatever god existed or not that Zhao Kai would actually believe him when he said he only spoke a _little_ Chinese. Thankfully his answer seemed to satisfy the teacher and Zhao Kai turned to Jaenelle. "Please," he said in accented English as he sat down.

"...do I really have to sing right now?" Jaenelle muttered, her face scarlet.

Heero felt himself blush. "I... can excuse myself, if you wish."

"NOPE." Sharon crossed her arms. "You have to protect me, and I'm not moving from this spot."

Jaenelle sighed heavily.

"Just sing!" Checkie snapped. "You only have five minutes left of your lesson then it's my turn!"

"Can we pretend those five minutes already-"

"SING!" Checkie and Sharon both snapped at the same time.

Jaenelle flinched and sang, "_Ou va la jeune Indoue, fille de Parias..."_

Heero recognised the song instantly. Quatre had played the CD to this opera, _Lakmé_, plenty during exam grading time in the past few years. While of course she was nowhere near as full in voice with the professionals who had recorded the CD, Jaenelle's voice was certainly not lacking in pleasantry... though it was more shaky than before. Probably because of him, he found himself sighing. He was making her nervous. But why?

To his surprise, Zhao Kai cut off Jaenelle. "_Ni you shenme ganjue?"_ he asked, leaning his arm on the piano as he looked up at his student.

Heero couldn't make out the whole of Jaenelle's explanation for how she felt about the song, but it was enough to satisfy their instructor... or so he'd thought.

"You?" he said in English, standing up and walking to Jaenelle, shaking his head. Then he placed a hand on her stomach. "_Chang,"_ he instructed.

Jaenelle began to sing as Zhao Kai lightly punched her stomach, looking very embarrassed. Her voice, due to the repeated punchings, sounded obviously _very_ shaky but there was without a doubt more power behind the sound.

"Why?" Sharon asked before Heero could.

"You're supposed to sing from your stomach," Checkie explained. "Real sound comes from there. The punching means she's pushing out her stomach muscles, and then she gets a real sound."

"Oh." Sharon paused. "Damn, a lot more work goes into singing than I thought. Wait... is he gonna hit _me_ in the stomach?"

"Probably," Checkie grinned.

"Great," Sharon groaned before turning to Heero. "Hey! You gonna protect me from him?"

"Not likely," Heero replied. "Your instruction is hardly an appropriate threat."

Before Sharon could come up with a witty reply, Zhao Kai withdrew his hands from Jaenelle. "_Xie xie, laoshi,"_ she said, thanking him for her lesson.

He nodded, then looked from Heero to Jaenelle, studying, weighing. Finally he motioned for Heero to stand and follow. Confused, Heero obeyed.

Zhao Kai opened a door to another room with a smaller piano, a couch, and a computer. "Please," he said, ushering Heero towards the couch. He motioned for Jaenelle to enter the room after Heero, looking equally confused and stopping just inside the doorway.

Then, to Jaenelle's shock and horror, Zhao Kai grinned and waved, "Bye bye!" he chirped.

He then shut the door in Jaenelle's face.

Outside in the living room Sharon _howled_ with laughter. Checkie wailed, confused. Jaenelle just stared at the door in disbelief.

Heero looked at the ground feeling his face heat.

After a few moments Jaenelle turned around and looked up at Heero, who wondered if her face would turn permanently red from all this blushing. "I'm... sorry about this," she said lamely.

Heero wasn't sorry, but he certainly felt awkward. "Any idea why he did this?"

Just when Heero thought Jaenelle couldn't turn any redder, she did. "This is what I get for confiding in him," she muttered as she took a seat on the couch next to him.

Heero fumbled for words. He hadn't felt pressured to talk ever, nor really felt uncomfortable in silence before. But there was so much to say to her and some of it he felt he wasn't ready to say. So he'd keep it simple. "H-How have you been?" he asked.

Jaenelle leaned back into the couch. "Well enough," she answered after a moment. "Just... preparing for the entrance exams with Wufei. Trying not to go crazy and kill myself."

"What?" Heero tensed.

"Just a figure of speech!" Jaenelle quickly explained. "I'm not _really_ suicidal. I'm just..." she trailed off, looking at the ground.

Heero relaxed.

"I wanted to apologise," Jaenelle said abruptly after a few minutes of silence. "For all the crap that's happened the past couple of months. You know, with... the dance. I know you didn't mean anything by it-"

"Didn't I?" The words came out of his mouth before he realised he said them.

Jaenelle turned her head to look at him, shocked.

Heero wasn't ready for this conversation, but it looked like it was happening anyway. "I... am the one who owes you an apology," he breathed. "You don't deserve what happened, the negative attention. I followed advice to do what my... to follow my intuition," he amended, not willing to speak of his heart just yet. "And you've paid the price for it."

"How can you say that when the papers painted you as being involved with me?" Jaenelle demanded. "That's not right, especially when you have no intentions of such a thing-"

"Don't assume," Heero cut her off quietly, "that their observations about... me are incorrect. If you want to know, ask."

Jaenelle bit her lip. "It's not like I can ask you something like that."

"Right now," Heero said, "in this room I am not your instructor nor am I a Preventer. I am just Heero. It doesn't matter what you say now. I don't mind. I will listen."

The silence stretched out between them as the piano and Checkie's singing in the other room filled the background of their pause. Slowly in the background the sun set, the sky fading to dark as neither of them spoke. Finally, Jaenelle stood up and headed for the door. Heero looked down, feeling a pang in his chest.

Instead of opening the door, Jaenelle turned on the light and then retreated back to the couch, scooting a little closer to the edge. "Have you ever had a student confess feelings for you before?"

Heero blinked, thinking. "Yes," he replied, recalling more than a couple of awkward office hour sessions.

"How many?"

Heero frowned, counting. "Four," he replied after a half of a minute.

"Well," Jaenelle sucked in her breath, looking down at the ground. "Now it's five."

His heart pounding in his chest, Heero looked up at Jaenelle. Her gaze was straight to the ground, focused on the carpet. Her face was red again. He smiled to himself; it had just returned to its normal colour too.

"Can you... wait?" Heero asked.

"Wait?" Jaenelle blinked, turning to look at him.

"Until you're not a student anymore," Heero blushed.

"For...?"

Heero's face heated even more. "Me."

Shock melted into a smile, but the blush remained. Heero smiled back, his heart for the first time in the past six months feeling satisfied. Did she have any idea how beautiful he thought she was? He'd have to rectify that in a future conversation when he felt more sure of himself than he did now.

"I can do that," Jaenelle replied. "I can definitely do that."

Heero sat back in the couch, smiling up at the ceiling. Had he ever felt _thi_s happy before?

A light touch on his fingers. He glanced down, seeing Jaenelle's own fingers lightly resting on his. He shifted his hand beneath hers, gripped lightly.

He couldn't believe it.

Now he felt even happier.

* * *

Wednesdays quickly became Heero's favourite day of the week. He counted the hours, even during his own lessons to teach. He finished grading papers or doing reports as fast as he could without losing efficiency. He couldn't wait for 6 p.m. to come, to hear the knock on his door and see Sharon standing there, waiting to be taken to her lesson. He'd drive her there, smiling the entire time. He'd never smiled so much in his life.

Sometimes Checkie would sing before Jaenelle. On those days, he got to see all of Jaenelle's lesson, which he didn't mind though it cut on an hour of their private talk time. Zhao Kai had been more than happy to basically shut them in a room together so they could spend time together without anyone else's judgment. Everyone there knew what was going on but none of them had ever said anything on campus. It was a happily well-kept secret.

He loved being near her. He loved every moment of it and he knew she did as well. She delighted in teaching him things, telling him stories, his expressions and the times he laughed. She didn't laugh enough, he said. Around her, he laughed all the time.

He found himself telling his own stories. He didn't talk as animatedly as she, but he talked a lot even for himself. He'd hardly opened up about the war, but he wanted to save those stories for when they could spend _real_ time together. For now, this was enough.

_This is happiness, _Heero found himself thinking as he shut the door behind him to the computer/mini piano room. Jaenelle sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to her. He smiled. She didn't even need to invite him, he would have come willingly. This was their fourth Wednesday together.

"I _have_ to tell you what happened last night," Jaenelle grinned.

"Do," Heero smiled warmly, taking her hand.

As she talked and told her story, Heero found himself watching the way her mouth was moving. Not for the first time since they started these talks he wondered what it would be like to kiss her. (He blushed just thinking about it.) The only woman he'd ever kissed before was Relena and that was after the incident involving White Fang remnants between the end of the Eve wars and the Mariemaia conflict. He'd remembered feeling awkward during then, confused about his emotions for her. Now he felt no confusion concerning his emotions but instead was merely remarking inwardly on his own inexperience.

He also wasn't sure if it would be welcome.

He also was fully aware of his own statement of waiting until she was out of the Preventers to make a move like that.

He was wondering if he could keep that promise.

"Heero?"

Heero blinked, focused. Jaenelle was looking at him, squeezing his hand in a concerned manner as she leaned closer, looking into his eyes. "Are you alright?"

His heart thumped. He moved his mouth to speak, to give some kind of reply, to apologise for spacing out. Instead, shocking both himself and Jaenelle, Heero leaned in and kissed her.

Well. More like he kind of mashed his lips on hers. He blushed when he broke the kiss, knowing it was clumsy. God damn, why did he have to be smooth and efficient at everything _but_ this? He waited for the negative response to his clumsy action.

Jaenelle just smiled at him, the colour of her cheeks matching his before she returned the favour.

The awkward feeling disappeared almost instantly. He echoed her motions, memorising and mastering them before giving into the emotions that had been welling inside him for too long. She kissed him in earnest, he could feel her heart's confession with every meeting of their lips. And he knew he was confessing right back.

_You shouldn't be doing this,_ his mind warned.

_Fuck you,_ his heart replied.

_She's still technically a student!_

_I don't care. Right now, I don't care._

_You're in someone else's house!_

_I don't care, I don't care, I don't care..._

Loud bangs at the front door of the apartment jerked Heero away from Jaenelle, who shrank into the couch. He tensed, weighing the situation and judging. Those were not friendly bangs.

Not even a second later, he heard the door fling open with enough force to damage the wall.

"Stay here," Heero snapped, pulling his gun out leaping for the door. As he yanked open the door, he found the point of a gun in his face. "Don't move, 01," a voice Heero didn't recognise spoke from beneath the mask of the man in front of him.

"JAE! INSTRUCTOR YUY!"

Heero's eyes darted to the right. Sharon screamed as two men grabbed her and hauled her from the couch. Sharon jerked in their grip, kicking at the men as a third pointed a gun at her forehead. "Stop it, bitch, or I'll fucking blow your brains out!"

"Can't do that, man," the guy who was aiming at Heero replied, never taking his gaze off Heero. "She's needed alive. You, on the couch," the man snapped.

Heero's eyes widened.

"Up," the man continued. "You're wanted also."

"No," Heero growled, cocking his gun. He snapped his arm up but to his horror the man's hand was up in a flash, cracking down on Heero's wrist, loosening the grip just enough. Heero's gun crashed to the floor and went off, the bullet striking a bookshelf adjacent to the doorway. People screamed.

Heero swallowed, running over options in his head. There weren't enough.

"Bitch, if you don't fucking move, we kill the Chinese here," another man called out, cocking his gun and aiming at Zhao Kai, his wife, and Checkie. "All of them will fucking die."

"Jaenelle," Heero said, not taking his eyes off his opponent, his heart racing, his gun too far out of reach. "Jaenelle, you-"

"Fine," Jaenelle pushed herself from the couch. "I'll go. But don't touch Zhao-laoshi, his wife, his children, or our friend."

"Jaenelle!" Heero pleaded, wishing desperately that he had his gun, that he had backup, _something_. "Don't go with them!"

Shaking her head, Jaenelle walked past Heero, her hand brushing his shoulder as she walked by to where Sharon was standing. Heero noticed there were tears falling down her face. There were tears running down Sharon's face too.

_No, _Heero thought to himself. _I'm supposed to protect them. I'm supposed to protect _her_..._

"Good boy," the man who held the gun to Heero's forehead chuckled before he issued a command for his colleagues to leave. He held the gun up until everyone Heero saw in the room was gone.

"Listen well, 01," the man said, using his free hand to dig through his pocket. "There's an address on this card, see. In seventy-two hours, you can show up at that address. If you don't show up there at that time alone, we will kill Jaenelle Kelly."

"And Sharon Gladden?" Heero asked, his throat dry.

"Oh, we won't kill her. She's useful, you see. We need her alive. But we don't need Jaenelle Kelly alive and if you want to ever see her in tact again, you'd better show up alone."

"If I don't?" Heero whispered too softly.

"If you don't, well, we'll toss her head down to you," the man chuckled, lowering his gun and turning to leave. "Although, we might keep the body. If you want it after we're done, we'll toss that down too."

"You fucking-" Heero lunged for his gun only to see something move, too late, out of the corner of his eye. Around the corner of the doorway at the same time something came at him, stabbed into him. Heero turned as he fell, staring at the needle that was sticking out of his arm. "What the-"

The man he hadn't seen lunged again, jamming another needle into his shoulder. Pain lanced through Heero's body as he felt the chemicals shoot through his veins. "A double dose for our mutant friend," the man who'd stabbed him chuckled, standing up.

"Damn you," Heero moaned, trying to his feet. He felt his legs give as he crashed to the floor, the needle out of his arm and drained of whatever liquid had been inside, spinning away from him. He tried to reach, tried to crawl, but it was no use. His limbs went limp. And as the room darkened around him and the wails from the family in the corner filled the room, Heero's mind surrendered to oblivion.


	28. Chapter 28

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **O snap, son! An update after… how many months? Quite a few! Almost a year, I think. Sorry for dropping off the face of the planet. I know how this fic is supposed to end but I've lacked the drive to really write lately until one of my friends on LiveJournal mentioned that I should finish this fic, so I guess I shall. :P How many of you are still with me out there? I hope at least a few of you, since the questions are going to finally be answered… in a way you probably weren't expecting. Enjoy!

**Chapter 28**

A sharp knock at the door jerked Lady Une out of her thoughts. "Come in and make it quick," she snapped, shuffling the documents she had just laid out on her desk back in their original pile. She'd deal with the organizing later.

The door flung open and in walked a very agitated Duo Maxwell. "Une, we gotta talk," he snapped, shutting the door behind him.

Damn, she'd been afraid of this. "Make it fast, Duo, I've got places to be and plans to execute," she retorted, fumbling through her desk for the manila folder that would ensure their success this afternoon and hoping he wasn't there to talk about what she was afraid he was there to discuss, especially since she knew he wouldn't like what she would say on the subject.

"You seriously don't plan on confining Heero for the next three days, do you?" Duo demanded, placing his hands on the edges of her desk.

Une sighed heavily. Figured he would come in here and want to talk about the very last thing she could waste time debating about! "Yes, I plan on it, and no, there is nothing you can say to make me change my mind!"

"Lady-"

"Look here, Duo," Une set down the folder she had re-found and started shoving documents into it. "I gave explicit orders for Heero to stay away from Miss Kelly and do his job of protecting Sharon Gladden and Regina Stewart. We are incredibly fortunate that Miss Stewart is in our custody and not theirs- whoever 'they' happen to be – but his carelessness and the fact that he was in the wrong room at the wrong time consorting with Miss Kelly? He could have stopped it, but the situation was out of his hands _because he was doing the one thing I ordered him not to do_. So, yes, I plan on confining him because this is ridiculous. That girl is expendable-"

"_Not_ to Heero, obviously! Man, Une, what the hell is this?" Duo threw his hands in the air. "Preventers are supposed to stop shit before it starts, I get that, it's kind of why we're called _Prevent _-ers, da-da-ding I made it funny. But!" Duo held one finger in the air. "Whoever these people are, they're after these girls and even if Jae's name isn't on the list of 'People Who Are Somehow Part of This Big Picture We Can't Grasp', she's involved now and they're holding her hostage. We would go out of our way to rescue one of ours, wouldn't we? And she's enrolled in this school so therefore she _is_ one of ours!"

"And that's all well and good, but in the end it doesn't have to be _Heero_ who rescues her! This isn't some kind of movie, Maxwell, you know damn well better than to blatantly take the bait!" Une pressed her hand against her forehead. "And Heero isn't even in his right mind."

"Oh, so Heero finally has actual _feelings_ for someone, so that's bad because he's not an emotionless machine and just blindly taking orders? Give me a fucking break!" Duo sighed. "Look, do you want the war to end or not?"

Une blinked, lowering her hand. "What?"

Duo snorted. "Heero's war has never quite ended, or have you not realized this? He's kind of, well, _not changed at all_ in the past six years! Now, I want my best friend to be happy. I want him to have the very goddamn thing we worked so hard to give everyone else because out of all of us? He deserves it the most. So, detaining him like this when the person he's in love with is kind of out there about to die in the next seventy-two hours? Not fair, Une. Let _us_ take care of the rest of this and let _him_ do what he's good at: saving people's asses."

Une took a deep breath and crossed her arms. "No."

Staring at her for a good, long minute, Duo studied Une then sighed. "Alright. Fine."

Une raised an eyebrow. "You done arguing with me about this?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever, guess I am," Duo shrugged. "So what is your flawless plan, then?"

"We have a bigger problem to worry about," Une said, coming around her desk and handing Duo the folder. "You and Miss Witechowsky are going to L2."

"Why?"

"Because we've picked up a leak that someone may very well want to assassinate Relena Darlian-Peacecraft, and we can't let that happen."

"Oh, great, so Steph can get shot instead?"Duo shook his head, glaring. "This is fucking awesome, the best plan ever!"

"Enough of this crap, Maxwell!" Une snapped. "Miss Witechowsky is the best candidate for the job and we need the Vice Foreign Minister – who may very well end up the next President – _alive_ for the sake of both the Earth and the colonies. Now, do your damn job."

Duo stared at Une for another minute before snatching the folder. "Fine. But I have a bad feeling about this, just so you know."

Une shook her head and waved him off, dismissing him.

Furious beyond belief, Duo left Une's office and stormed down the hallway. This wasn't fair. This just wasn't at all fair. How had the ground gotten so damn boggy so fast? Just two days ago they were all watching presidential debates and now it seemed like everything was falling apart. There was just one question that no one seemed to have an answer to.

Just who the hell is _behind_ all of this?

* * *

Quatre Raberba Winner sat in the chair next to Heero's bed, worry etched on his face. Whatever drugs they'd given the former pilot of 01 hadn't quite worn off yet, which was ridiculously frightening if one sat down and thought about it. Heero was well-known for being ridiculously healthy thanks to whatever it was that Dr. J had done to the man during his early training. He could withstand almost anything, which meant that whoever had done this knew exactly what Heero's body could and could not tolerate. And that was truly frightening.

A sharp knock at the door caught Quatre's attention. "Yes?" he called out, trying to school his expression.

Duo walked in and shook his head when he saw that Heero was still knocked out cold. "I'm being deployed for L2 in a minute. Une wants me to take Steph and substitute for Relena at her speech tonight. Seems that there's been a leak of an assassination attempt."

"It's… not a very good leak," Quatre confessed. "It's something almost any random hacker on the internet could find. It's as if they _want_ us to plan accordingly to this so-called could be assassination attempt."

"So, this is a trap then?" Duo snorted. "Just like the one with Heero, only that Une's not willing to take any chances and is going to send Steph in there. Honestly? The best thing to do would be to stop Relena's tour."

"That would cost her the election, and I don't think politics is willing to halt just for her safety," Quatre pointed out.

"Yeah," Duo nodded. "Politics don't exactly stop for _anyone's _safety." He sighed heavily and kicked the wall gently. "Man, this is no good. It's almost as if someone's in our system, just fucking with us for the hell of it!"

"It's like they're reading our moves," Quatre agreed, half-musing to himself, then jerked upright as the thought blossomed in his mind. Could it be? Could they honestly… but how? And why? Well, the why they'd find out in time, it's the how that's the most important.

"Duo," Quatre breathed. "I think I know what's going on."

Duo blinked. "Do you?"

"I do, and if I'm right… you better send Steph here to me before you leave today."

"What? You honestly think we should still go through with this?" Duo scratched his head. "I mean, knowing it's a trap and all?"

"Sometimes the only way out is head-first," Quatre nodded. "Just trust me, alright? And bring Steph here."

Duo nodded and headed out the door.

Turning his head to look at his comrade's sleeping body, Quatre murmured, "Heero, I wish you were the one who could take care of all of this. You were always better at this kind of pattern weaving than I was, but I guess I'll have to do for now. We can't always rely on you, can we? Moreover, it seems that you've got a story somewhere else to end. This is our trap. You got to figure out yours, y'know?"

The light sound of Heero's breathing the only answer, Quatre got up and headed towards the door, glanced around, then looked up at the cameras that were recording everything.

"Sorry, guys," Quatre whispered before he hit the lights.

Minutes later, just after the lights went back on, a soft knock sounded at the door. "Enter!" Quatre called out.

A hesitant Stephanie Witechowsky peeked her head in. "You called for me?"

Quatre nodded and smiled a little gravely. "Steph, my friend, I have a very bad feeling you aren't going to like what I'm about to tell you, but for the sake of everyone, you're probably going to have to go along with it."

Steph nodded slowly. "Alright…"

Quatre took a deep breath, smiled apologetically, and told her.

* * *

Easing himself into the main pilot's seat, Duo ran a final check before leaning back, grumbling to himself about the day's events so far before the signal flashed on the right-hand corner of the dashboard. "All systems green," Duo said to himself before pressing the CALL button. "Preventer 02, waiting on 03 and Sitting Duck!"

"Is that really Steph's codename?" Trowa asked as he entered the cockpit of the shuttle a minute later.

"Well, what _else_ is she now?" Duo snorted. "We're kind of setting her up to be fucking assassinated! Or perhaps even a fate worse than death: kidnapping."

"Poor thing," Trowa sighed, buckling himself in. "Alright. Steph-"

"Sitting Duck."

"-is all set in the back," Trowa finished.

Duo nodded and flicked the switches, starting the engines and settling into his role as pilot. "This is going to seriously suck _so_ bad. I have a feeling we're not only going to be walking into a trap but totally end up playing 'clean –up on aisle three' later."

"That'll be you, not me," Trowa commented.

"What?!" Duo snapped his head around.

Trowa kept his expression neutral – the asshole, Duo muttered to himself – as he answered, "L2 is your home colony. You get to deal with the social protocol."

"Oh, that's just fucking great!" Duo muttered as they got the OK to take off. "Yeah, sure, leave all of the annoying crap up to me. Hey, this isn't my punishment for actually having social skills, is it?"

"Perhaps."

"_Damn_ you guys."

Trowa only smirked. Slightly.

Firing the engines, Duo changed gears before calling into the loudspeaker, "This is 02! Hold on to something, 'cause we're outta here and gonna be hitting atmo in a few minutes!"

The roar of the engines drowning out any possible replies, the shuttle burst onto the runway from the hangar and shot across, up and into the sky. Both Duo and Trowa were silent as the ground seemed to practically melt away farther and farther below. Cities faded into the rest of the land, clouds covered up everything but continents and oceans, details no longer clear. A half hour seemed to fly by – it honestly never seemed that long – before they hit atmo and were burning their way into space.

"Home," Duo breathed once the shuttle broke through the atmosphere and was greeted by the expanse of stars, the planet now below them. He instantly relaxed then, most of the tension draining from him when he looked upon all of the stars that now seemed to engulf everything. In spite of the efforts that the colonies made to create smaller earths, most of the colonists felt more at ease with the stars around them than they did on earth looking up into the closest star to them: the sun, their bringer of life. Perhaps it was that that was the biggest divider between someone who had spent their entire life on Earth versus the colonies. Space wasn't just something far away that was cold and devoid of life… it was their home.

"Kind of sad when literally the one thing devoid of life is so seriously comforting," Duo muttered to himself before glancing at his partner. "Hey Trowa, go check on Sitting Duck," he said, jerking his head towards the back.

Duo watched Trowa out of the corner of his eye get up and leave, the door to the cockpit still open. He sighed as he set the co-ordinates for L2's main port and prepared himself enough to send a message to Hilde. He hadn't seen Hilde in quite a while and wondered if she not only wouldn't mind him popping in, but the rest of them as well. If there was anything good about him being a Preventer for so long, it was the fact that no one would tie him or the others in with any of the connections Hilde had with the scrap business-

"Duo!"

Oh shit, Trowa actually sounded a bit _alarmed_. This wasn't good. Groaning to his feet after unbuckling himself, Duo raced out of the cockpit, down through the hallways towards the cabins... and stopped. "Oh hell no," he muttered as he looked into the first one on the right. "Oh hell fucking no."

Sitting on the bed next to Stephanie Witechowsky looking quite guilty as charged were Megh O'Connor and Regina Stewart.


End file.
